Fuinning In The Blanks
by enunciiate
Summary: Previously a one-shot titled 'Your Heart, My Heart'. Missing Fuinn scenes from each episode of season 2 with appearances from other characters, especially Rachel and Sam for obvious reasons. Please R&R!
1. Audition

**A/N:** I am addicted to this pairing now thanks to the wonderful Fuinnatics on Glee Forum, so this one goes out to all of them.

**Audition**

* * *

Finn hightailed out of the locker room immediately, not wanting to feel the wrath of the new football coach anymore than he already had. He needed to be alone for awhile to figure things out. Immediately, he thought of the one room in the entire school he felt the most comfortable in and he made his way over there.

Upon entering the room, his head started to spin, reality finally setting in around him. _Oh God._ He had just been kicked off the football team. He was Finn Hudson, the quarterback. Who was he without that?

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Breathe Finn," he muttered, talking to no one in particular. "Everything is going to be just fine."

"Are you ok?" he heard a voice whisper from behind him seconds later and he whipped his head around only to find Quinn sitting two rows behind him.

_Well, at least it wasn't Puck._

"Quinn? What are you doing here?" he blubbered, not sure of how he should act around her anymore.

Were they even friends? They hadn't talked much since the whole Puck-is-the-father debacle.

"Same reason you're here," she said quietly, avoiding his gaze. "To think."

"Right," he commented, turning around in his seat again, at a complete loss for words.

What should he do now? Should he leave and give her some peace? Then again, he had as much of a right to be here as she did. He swiveled around to look at her again and her eyes met his. She had probably been thinking the same thing. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, _anything_, but no words would come out.

"We're still friends, right Finn?" she questioned, unsure of where she stood with him.

He blanched for a moment upon hearing her question, realizing the question was his own, but after a moment, he gave her a small smile in answer.

"Yeah, I guess we still are," he responded, still watching her intently from where he sat. "I heard about your fight with Santana this morning by the way. Are you alright?"

"Of course," she told him, getting a little defensive. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He ignored the fact that she looked slightly irritated at the moment and continued.

"Right, well, I'm glad you're ok," he voiced, walking over hesitantly and taking the seat beside her, making sure not to invade her personal space. "You must be thrilled about being a cheerleader again."

He remembered how upset she had been when she had been kicked off the squad.

She nodded, her hands gripping the sides of her chair, eyes closed as the memories came flooding back to her.

"Yeah, I really missed being a cheerleader," she admitted, opening her eyes to look at him again. "I feel like I'm in control of my life again, you know?"

"So then, what's the problem?" he wondered, starting to get confused. "You seem upset for someone who just got reinstated as head cheerleader."

Quinn laughed. It was then that he realized how much he had missed it, her laugh.

"I don't know," she told him swinging her legs back and forth as she went. "It just felt a little weird ratting Santana out to get there. I guess I'm still trying to find a balance between the old Quinn and the Quinn I was during the whole pregnancy thing."

"You mean nice Quinn?" he teased her and she smiled.

"Well, I wasn't exactly a monster before was I?" she asked him, wanting an honest answer.

His face grew serious for a moment before he assured her, "No, but you could be a little mean sometimes, especially to those you considered beneath you. I hope being back on top doesn't change the fact that you've been nicer to everyone, Quinn."

"It won't," she promised him, putting her hand on his. "Like I said before, I'm going to find a balance."

He glanced down at where her hand was on his then and blurted out, "I'm dating Rachel now."

She eyed him for a moment, removing her hand from his, before bursting into giggles.

"I know Finn," she told him. "I wasn't trying to make a move on you."

"Oh," he echoed, blushing, a little embarrassed that he had jumped to conclusions, but for some reason, he also felt a little bit of disappointment in the pit of his stomach.

He shook the feeling off though. _It wasn't right._

"So, what are _you _so caught up about?" she wondered, turning the tables on him. "You seem pretty upset about something too."

"I got kicked off the football team," he confessed immediately, looking straight at her.

Quinn was always easy to talk to, something he had long forgotten.

"What? _Why?_" she questioned and he answered, "Just a small misunderstanding. I'm sure Mr. Schue will help me work things out with my coach. Don't worry about it."

"Good," she commented, biting her lip in response, not really knowing what else she could say. "I hope everything works out for you Finn. You could always try out for cheerleading if things don't work out, you know. I'll put in a good word for you."

She was teasing him. He could tell because she had that mischievous twinkle in her eye.

_He liked her eyes._

"Thanks, but I'm certain Mr. Schue will be able to fix this," he assured her, adding, "I guess two good things came out of this at least. For one, I now know how you must have felt being kicked off the cheerleading squad and two, we're talking again."

They shared a smile at his words. They knew each other so well sometimes that words were no longer necessary.

"Finn! There you are! I was wondering…" Rachel trailed off when she noticed who was sitting beside him. "Oh, hello Quinn."

Rachel was smiling, but Finn knew she wasn't happy. Quinn could see it to. She picked up her purse, making a move to leave. She didn't want to cause anymore trouble for Finn than she already had.

Quinn could feel both of their eyes on her as she left, but before she did, she felt compelled to whisper into Rachel's ear, "Be good to him Berry."

It was a mere whisper and Quinn was almost certain that he hadn't heard it, but he did. 'Be good to him'? _What was that supposed to mean?_ Did she approve of him and Rachel or something?

As Rachel bounced over excitedly to tell him about her day, he completely tuned out, not because he was purposely trying to be rude or anything, but because even though _she _was already gone, all he could think about was her.

He lowered his head in thought. He was with Rachel now. He knew that, but Finn also knew that his heart would always belong to _her_, the one girl he would never be able to fall out of love with, the one girl he would never be able to forget.


	2. BritneyBrittany

**A/N:** So, I decided to continue this story, again inspired by the amazing Fuinnatics on Glee Forum. I will be writing a missing Fuinn scene for every episode of season 2. How do you like the new title of the story? Oh and I threw a little Sam/Quinn in here. Hope nobody minds. Reviews are loved and appreciated.

**Britney/Brittany**

* * *

The bell rang and Quinn breathed a sigh of relief. School was over. Maybe now she would stop thinking about Finn.

_As if._

She knew no one would ever understand _why _she had helped Rachel with Finn today, but the truth was, she had had selfish intentions (like she would _ever _do something for Rachel Berry where Finn was concerned).

She had wanted to know whether or not she still had an effect on him, but their encounter had left her even more heartbroken, even more confused. He had admitted that he still had feelings for her, always would, he had said and yet, he had chosen Rachel. Quinn desperately wanted to know why.

She slammed her locker door shut then, a million emotions running through her mind. She needed to de-stress. It was time for _her _Britney moment. After all, everyone else had had theirs today.

She waited until the hallways were empty before she snuck into the choir room. She closed the door gently behind her, turning around only to find that she was not alone.

"_What are you doing here?_" she hissed, unhappy about having been caught off guard.

"Uh, sorry," Sam spoke up from where he sat, glancing at her apologetically. "I wasn't aware there was an after school glee club practice today."

She quickly composed herself, smoothing out the non-existent creases of her uniform.

"Don't be," Quinn told him, feeling bad that she had overreacted a little. "There's no practice. I just wanted to…Never mind. I should probably go."

"Wait," he stopped her, getting up from his seat and walking over to her then, offering, "_I'll_ go. You have more of a right to be here than I do anyway. At least you're _part _of the glee club."

"True," she mused, stopping in her tracks and walking over to set her purse down beside the piano. "What _are _you doing here after school anyway?"

"Well, I _wanted _to join the glee club, but I have my reputation to uphold you know," he confessed, not really knowing _why _he felt compelled to tell her whatever she wanted to know. "I come here sometimes after school to sing. I'm Sam by the way."

Quinn nodded, smiling at him.

"I've seen you around. I'm Quinn," she introduced herself in return, but she expected that he knew who she was already.

Which student at McKinley High didn't in all honesty?

"I know who you are," he answered, just as she expected. "You're the most beautiful girl in school."

She laughed, not having predicted that he would be so forward with her. He seemed like the shy type upon first glance.

"Thanks," she said, appreciating the compliment and he simply nodded, getting ready to leave.

_The last thing she felt was beautiful today._

"See you around then Quinn," he hoped, his hand already on the doorknob.

That's when she stopped him. She _wanted _him here. She had no idea why, but he reminded her so much of Finn back when they were still together, still happy. After all, Sam was on the football team. He also wanted to join the glee club, but simply cared too much about his reputation to _actually _go through with it. Yes, Sam was like _that _Finn in a lot of ways. In fact, Quinn predicted that he would join the glee club for real one of these days.

"Stay," she simply asked of him and he looked at her in slight confusion.

"I'm sorry?" he blanched for a moment, not sure if he had heard her right.

_Was this some kind of joke?_

"_Stay_," Quinn repeated, motioning for him to take his seat again before explaining herself, "I like an audience sometimes."

He shrugged, still a little wary of her offer, taking his previous seat with extreme caution. He watched her as she prepared herself and then, sweet music filled his ears. Her voice, he noted, was even sweeter.

_"Never look back," we said  
How was I to know I'd miss you so?  
Loneliness up ahead, emptiness behind  
Where do I go? _

_And you didn't hear  
All my joy through my tears  
All my hopes through my fears  
Did you know, still I miss you somehow_

Her eyes were closed as her fingers glided across the ivory keys. She was thinking about someone and he knew almost instantly that she was thinking about Finn. After all, they had been the power couple at McKinley up and until Finn had found out that Puck was the father of Drizzle. There was _way _too much drama at this school for his taste, but he was here, so Sam figured he should make the best of it.

_From the bottom of my broken heart  
There's just a thing or two I'd like you to know  
You were my first love, you were my true love  
From the first kisses to the very last rose  
From the bottom of my broken heart  
Even though time may find me somebody new  
You were my real love, I never knew love  
'Til there was you  
From the bottom of my broken heart _

She felt her throat constrict as the memories she and Finn had shared together came flooding back to her. _How could he have chosen Rachel over her?_

_"Baby," I said, "Please stay.  
Give our love a chance for one more day"  
We could have worked things out  
Taking time is what love's all about_

_But you put a dart  
Through my dreams through my heart  
And I'm back where I started again  
Never thought it would end _

Finn stood frozen when he heard music coming from the choir room. He was unable to move away from the door now. He had left his Spanish textbook at school and had come back for it. Little did he know that he would be met with the sound of Quinn's voice. He always thought she sounded like an angel when she sang (not that he had actually ever _heard _an angel sing with his own ears).

He knew the song too and instantly, he knew she was thinking of him as she sang it. Then again, was he simply conceited for thinking so? He dared to step a little closer, wanting to catch a glimpse of her through the tiny window, but the vision that met his eyes did not please him.

_From the bottom of my broken heart  
There's just a thing or two I'd like you to know  
You were my first love, you were my true love  
From the first kisses to the very last rose  
From the bottom of my broken heart  
Even though time may find me somebody new  
You were my real love, I never knew love  
'Til there was you  
From the bottom of my broken heart _

Sam? _What the hell was he doing here?_ This kid was seriously getting on his last nerve.

_You promised yourself  
But to somebody else  
And you made it so perfectly clear  
Still I wish you were here _

The lyrics, however, brought his thoughts back to one person in that room that mattered - _Quinn_. She looked as beautiful as ever, even though her expression was not a happy one. He wanted so badly to march in there, tell Sam to get the hell out, and then walk over to the piano and wrap her up into a bear hug _just _to see her smile again, but he couldn't. He was with Rachel now and he needed to remember that. He needed to respect that himself.

_From the bottom of my broken heart  
There's just a thing or two I'd like you to know  
You were my first love, you were my true love  
From the first kisses to the very last rose  
From the bottom of my broken heart  
Even though time may find me somebody new  
You were my real love, I never knew love  
'Til there was you  
From the bottom of my broken heart _

Quinn opened her eyes then, her eyes moist, though no tears fell from her glistening orbs. Deep down, she knew why Finn had chosen Rachel over her. She had hurt him, _a lot_, and she knew the pain was still very fresh for him. Although he had forgiven her already, Finn had always had a little trouble with letting go. She wondered though if he had _any _idea how much it hurt _her _to see him with Rachel now.

_"Never look back," we said  
__How was I to know I'd miss you so?_

She finished off the song, her voice trailing on the last note, and then as if by instinct, she glanced towards the door, straight at him, and he knew he had to get out of there, and fast. He stayed where he was though and continued to stare at her when he noticed that she wasn't planning to come after him, her eyes merely locked on his.

She was the first to turn away when Sam addressed her, clapping.

"Wow, that was really great Quinn," he commented, walking over to the piano now. "I may actually consider joining the glee club now, for real, reputation be damned."

He was teasing her.

She smiled, silently thanking him for the compliment. She certainly wished the glee club saw her that way. Her voice was always just "average" to them.

"Thanks Sam," she said out loud, starting to get anxious now as she noticed that Finn was no longer standing at the door, watching her. "But I actually have to go now."

"Sure," he understood, flicking his hair a little as he followed her hurried steps out into the hallway.

_Damn it._ He was already gone. Then again, maybe she had just imagined him standing there. Quinn wasn't so sure she had seen him anymore.

"See you around then Quinn?" she heard Sam say, causing her to snap out of her reverie.

"Uh, yeah," she assured him, giving him a small wave. "See you around Sam and please, keep our encounter today between us."

He nodded in agreement and then she left, thinking about Finn all the way home, although a thought or two of Sam had crossed her mind as well. Why? Quinn smiled to herself. Maybe she would never know.


	3. Grilled Cheesus

**A/N:** I really want to explore a Finn/Quinn/Sam love triangle, so Sam will be appearing often. Also, the last line of the chapter should be crossed out, but for some reason, this site does not allow that. I hope you like this missing scene and please review!

**Grilled Cheesus**

* * *

She scanned the hallways looking for him, books in hand. She had ten minutes before her next class and she really wanted to talk to Finn. It made her unbelievably happy today when he said that he had found Jesus Christ. She was hoping this would bring them closer together.

"Who are you looking for?" a voice spoke up from behind her.

She whirled around to find Sam standing there. How did he manage to sneak up on her like that? He smiled at the look of surprise on her face and she noticed his dimples for the very first time then. He was kind of cute, she thought, not as cute as Finn of course, but cute nonetheless.

"No one," she insisted, keeping her face devoid of all emotion.

She was harder to read that way. Over the years, this had become a defense mechanism of hers. She had many.

"No one?" he challenged her, raising an eyebrow and cocking his head towards Finn, who was currently rummaging through his locker.

She followed his gaze before turning back to him, lips pursed, mostly because she was annoyed that someone was perceptive enough to know what she was _really _doing out here in the hallway instead of heading to her next class.

"No one," she repeated, not wanting to admit that she was still pining after her ex-boyfriend.

"I see," he echoed, evidently not believing her. "Well, I have to go to class, but for the record, I think you're above pining over _any _guy. Any guy who chooses that crazy theatre chick over you must be insane in my books."

Quinn had to laugh at his perception of Rachel. _Well, he was mostly right._

"Well then some guys _are _insane I guess because believe it or not, there are boys at this school who _would _choose Rachel Berry over me," she informed him and he noticed her grip on her books tighten instantly.

He was concerned by how insecure she was, but he knew not to comment. A pissed off Quinn was a bitchy Quinn and although her bitchiness made her _that _much more attractive to him, he preferred not to be one of her victims. Instead, Sam smirked victoriously, having caught her in a lie.

"Who said anything about Rachel Berry?" he questioned, a teasing smile on his lips and Quinn realized she had just given herself away.

"Alright," she spoke up, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Finn was still there.

Their eyes locked for a brief moment before she returned her attention to Sam.

"So, I _am _looking for Finn. Sue me," she dared him, returning his intense stare with one of her own.

He was the first to break eye contact, letting her win.

"Look on the bright side," he told her nonchalantly, although Quinn seriously doubted there _was _a bright side to this. "At least that bushy-haired boy who had an orgasm during your Toxic performance has no interest in you."

Quinn scrunched up her nose in disgust upon hearing his words.

"True," she had to admit, clarifying, "Were you watching the performance then? I didn't see you there."

His eyes twinkled in amusement and his chuckle? Adorable.

"Were you _looking _for me?" he questioned and Quinn found herself blushing.

She had to admit though, she had been for a moment or two.

"No," she told him instead, but he knew she was lying (again).

Noticing Santana whizzing by with Brittany reminded her then that she had class soon and she glanced at her watch to take note of the time. Five minutes until English. She _really _wanted to talk to Finn.

"I'm sorry Sam," she apologized, biting her lower lip and avoiding his gaze. "But I have to go. I really need to talk to Finn."

Being the easy-going guy that he was, Sam simply shrugged his shoulders and headed down the hallway in the other direction. He was about to be late for class anyway.

"Cool," he let her know before saying goodbye. "Bye Quinn. Oh and for the record, I know at least _one _guy at this school who would kill even Rachel Berry to be with you."

"Good to know," she returned, not thinking too much of his words at the time, already heading towards Finn. "Bye Sam."

* * *

"What did _he _want?" Finn asked her the moment she arrived at his locker.

She noticed that he already had his books. Had he been pretending to rummage through his locker to keep an eye on her and Sam? Well, a girl could dream, she supposed.

"Nothing," she assured him, not wanting to assume that he was jealous just yet. "We were just talking."

"About what?" he pried and she swore she saw a flicker of anger in his eyes.

Taking the opportunity, she took a step closer to him.

"Are you jealous Finn Hudson?" she whispered and she heard his breath catch in his throat at her closeness.

He covered up his weakness though (in other words, _her_) at record speed by rolling his eyes and assuring her, "Of course not. You just trust people too easily Quinn. I'm just trying to protect you, you know, as your friend."

"Uh huh," Quinn commented, disappointed, taking a step back. "Well, I'm a big girl Finn. I can take care of myself. Besides, Sam's been really nice to me."

"Yeah, I'll bet," he scoffed, adding, "You even give him little special after school performances, don't you Quinn?"

_So he had been standing there, watching her._

"Stop," she demanded instead, putting her hand up for emphasis. "Just _stop _Finn. You're with Rachel now, something that you made clear the other day and everyone else reminds me of all the time, so please, just _stop_. You're _not _my boyfriend anymore Finn. You don't have the _right _to be jealous."

"Was the song for me?" he merely murmured, not _wanting _to stop, _needing _to know.

She closed her eyes, the tears threatening to fall. No. _He didn't get to do this._ She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again, a wide smile plastered on her face now to mask her pain. After all, she _had _learned a thing or two from her parents.

"Anyway, I actually just came over to say how happy I am that you've found Jesus, Finn," she told him, ignoring his question and changing the subject completely. "I have to get to class now. See you around."

_What?_

"Wait, Quinn," he started, his hand reaching out to pull her back, only to be intercepted (unfortunately) by Puck, who nodded briefly at Quinn as he walked by her.

"Hey man," he interrupted, Quinn still within earshot. "I got your text. So you think you're going to get to second base with Rachel tonight, huh? Way to go man. Who knew you still had some game left in you?"

He noticed her stop in her steps for a brief second and he knew that she had overheard him.

"Quinn!" he shouted, not knowing why he felt such a need to explain himself to her.

She ignored him and when she finally disappeared around the corner, he turned to glare at his best friend.

"What? Was it something I said?" Puck asked him, completely clueless.

Finn grumbled in response, slamming his locker door for the added effect.

_Dear Grilled Cheesus,_

_Please help me keep Sam away from Quinn while I figure out all these mixed feelings I have for her and Rachel. Thank you._

_Finn Hudson_

_P.S. I still want to go to second base with Rachel._


	4. Duets

**A/N:** This chapter might be a bit of a stretch, but I hope you like it anyway. I still want Finn and Quinn to get back together, but I am loving Sam and Quinn right now. Review please?

**Duets**

* * *

Finn sighed, still staring up at the ceiling of his room as he had been for the last two hours. Who was he kidding? He still had feelings for Quinn. Sure, he had to lie about his feelings to Sam, but that didn't mean that they weren't there. He had felt a little odd when his denial had left his lips earlier in the locker room and since then, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her.

He took his cell phone out , hesitating, his finger on the first button. Should he call her and congratulate her on winning the competition? No, that was completely lame. Maybe he should talk to Rachel first about his feelings. No way, he wanted to live to see the next sunrise. Besides, he didn't want to break Rachel's heart. She was better off not knowing he still had feelings for Quinn.

Then again, maybe instead of calling Quinn _or _Rachel, he should just call Sam in order to get an idea of what his intentions were towards his ex-girlfriend. _Ugh_, stupid again. Of course he liked her! _They were holding hands for God's sake!_ Luckily for him, he had masked his jealousy pretty well. Even Rachel had no idea he was secretly freaking out on the inside and she was usually quite perceptive whenever he was involved.

Damn it! _Why had they been holding hands?_ And her smile, _that smile_. The last time he had seen her so happy was when they were still together, when everything still made sense in the world.

He casually glanced at the time on his cell phone then. He would have to pick Rachel up for dinner soon.

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

Rachel. He flipped open his cell phone, expecting her to ask him whether or not he was on his way.

"Hey," he answered, still chiding himself quietly for having practically _pushed _Quinn into Sam's waiting arms. "Give me 10 minutes."

"No need," she responded as cheerful as ever. "I'm at your door already."

"Oh, well, I'll be down in a minute then," he told her, to which she agreed.

He hung up quickly, grabbed his wallet and his keys, his hand already on the doorknob. Rachel did _not _like to be kept waiting.

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

_See?_ He huffed in frustration, reaching for his phone again, thinking it appropriate to yell really loudly, 'I'm coming!" even though Rachel wouldn't hear him from where she was.

Wait. _Quinn?_

"Hello?" he spoke into his phone uncertainly, convinced Puck was probably prank calling him from Quinn's phone or something. "Quinn?"

"Yeah," she breathed from the other end of the line. "Don't you have caller ID?"

"Uh huh, but I thought…" he trailed off, not wanting her to think he was a moron again. "Never mind."

Quinn's opinion of him always mattered. Most of the time, hers mattered the most.

"So, anyway," she continued, her voice as happy as ever, but he could see right through her act. "I found of a few of your things lying around and I thought you'd want them back."

_She was giving him his stuff back?_ Great. She must have fallen for Sam. Now he _really _didn't believe in God. Hadn't he asked God to keep Sam _away_ from Quinn before he had figured out his feelings for her? Actually, he was more to blame for that, he knew. _Ugh!_ High school sucked, like _a lot_.

"Oh, uh, you can keep them if you want," he told her, hoping that she did.

"I'd rather not," she whispered and he could picture her biting her lip, trying to hold back her tears.

"Well, I can drop by sometime to pick them up then," he assured her, not wanting to make things difficult for her. "I may have a few things of yours as well."

"Would now be alright?" she wondered, her voice returning to normal again. "Sam is coming to pick me up soon, so before that would be great."

He knew why. Out with the old and in with the new so to speak.

"Okay," he agreed, realizing Rachel was standing beside him now, causing him to jump a little from where he stood. "Rachel and I are heading out to dinner anyway. I'll drop by."

Rachel seemed a little irritated that their plans for tonight were being interrupted, but Finn paid her no mind. All he noted at that moment was the overbearing pause and then the slight click of the phone. _Hmmm._ Bad connection maybe, Finn figured, although he knew that was a lie. Quinn had hung up on him.

* * *

The moment he turned into the driveway, Rachel hopped out of the car to talk to Sam, who had arrived much earlier than expected. _Well, this was certainly going to be awkward._

He smiled at her and she smiled back, both of them hesitant. _God. _She was so beautiful. She started to walk towards him, while behind her, Rachel and Sam chatted on about the glee club and how talented they both (well, mostly Rachel) were.

"Hey, thanks for stopping by," she said, handing him the box and pulling at the one he held in his hands.

He noticed the blanket that had been meant for Drizzle at the top of the pile then and she noticed too, but to keep herself distracted, she continued to tug at the box in his hands. Once, twice, but he simply wouldn't let go.

She looked up at him in desperation after a moment and seeing himself reflected in her big doe eyes, he unintentionally blurted out (although thankfully, Sam and Rachel hadn't hear him from where they stood), "I think I'm still in love with you Quinn."

He saw her go into defense mode immediately upon hearing his words and he wanted to take them back. He was making things difficult for her just when he had sworn that he wouldn't.

Surprisingly though, she simply took a deep breath and said, "Yeah well, Sam doesn't think. He _knows_."

He stared at her in complete shock at her bluntness and she took the opportunity to tear the box from his hands then, heading towards her house in a hurry. She returned moments later and even Sam and Rachel knew that something was wrong.

"So, are you ready to go?" Sam wondered, hoping to get Quinn's mind off of whatever she was thinking about at the moment.

She smiled at him and informed him, "Of course."

"Why don't we give you two a ride?" Rachel wondered, much to both Finn and Quinn's dismay. "We're heading in that direction anyway."

"Yeah, sure," Sam spoke up on Quinn's behalf, just as she and Finn shouted, "_No!_"

Sam turned to look at her, his eyes swimming with confusion, and Rachel did the same with Finn.

"I thought we'd walk," she explained quickly to Sam, still smiling at him. "We could get to know each other a little bit more, that sort of thing?"

Finn felt his stomach turn at her suggestion, which he knew she had spouted on purpose, knowing he would hear her. He clenched his fists, but no one noticed the motion.

"Yeah, good idea," he spat, getting into his car again, motioning for Rachel to get in too. "See you two at school."

Quinn said nothing and avoided his intense stare as Sam waved goodbye to them.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked the moment they had left, wanting to know the truth.

She paused for a moment before finally answering him.

"Finn told me he thinks he's in love with me," she confessed, looking away from Sam, embarrassed.

She wanted to be honest with him. She had tried dishonesty once before and she didn't want to go back down that road.

"Oh," he commented quietly, hands in his pockets, looking down at his shoes. "Do _you _still love him?"

She shrugged, hesitant, unable to answer his question.

"Ok, cool," he assured her, starting to walk away now, beckoning for her to follow him. "Just let me know when you figure it out because I like you a lot Quinn and I'll wait."

She giggled, nodding her head in promise and silently loving how he had managed to turn a supposedly serious situation around completely.

"Come on," he teased her, stopping in his tracks and waiting for her to catch up with him. "We'll never get to eat at the rate you're going."

"Shut up," she shot back playfully, by his side now.

He remained silent, still smiling, but suddenly, he started to hum 'Lucky' and Quinn found herself humming along. Who knew? Maybe by the end of the night, she would give Sam a shot at her heart and finally show Finn that she had moved on as well as he had with Rachel.

She hoped Sam had brought his wallet...

Why?

_Because a gentleman always pays on the first date._


	5. The Rocky Horror Glee Show

**A/N:** Yeah, sorry this chapter took a little longer than usual to get out. I had so many missing scene ideas for this episode, I had to pick and choose. I settled for a Finn/Kurt friendship scene and of course, a Finn/Quinn moment as well (a big moment might I add). I hope you like this and please review! Also, thank you to my lovely anonymous reviewers. I wish I could reply to your reviews, but alas, I cannot.

**The Rocky Horror Glee Show**

* * *

Cut glass. _Yeah right_, Finn thought as he walked out of glee club. Was that even _possible_? Besides, why would you even want to use your abs to cut glass? Didn't they have like professional tools for that or something? He wasn't sure.

It was then that he noticed Sam and Quinn holding hands from afar. _Ugh._ It made him sick to his stomach to see those two together. _He_ was cute! _He_ had abs (well, sort of)! She should be with _him_. Plus, his named rhymed with hers. _Suck on that Sam!_

He took a deep breath, swinging open his locker door. _God, he was losing it._ He slid the permission slip Mr. Schue had given them into his binder. He had no idea what the hell 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' was about, but apparently Rachel was going to teach him everything he needed to know about the iconic 70's musical during free period. _Just great._

Well, at least Quinn had the same free period. Maybe he could sneak away from Rachel for a moment or two to talk to her. What would he talk to her about though? Should he break up with Rachel to show Quinn that he was for real, but _was he_? Did he miss _her _or the idea of them? _Damn it!_ Did wanting them both make him a bad person?

Finn didn't know and it wasn't like he had anyone to actually talk things through with. Puck and him were on good terms, but they weren't really that close anymore. Besides, he was in juvie right now. He could talk to Mike he supposed. Nah. He was with Tina like _all _the time. Talking to him would mean talking to her too. Artie was a good listener, but he was probably too busy thinking about ways to win Tina back, so Finn didn't want to bug him either. Oh and he was _definitely _not talking to Mr. Schue about any of this. Besides, he seemed to be having relationship problems of his own, which left Kurt. Would Kurt even _want _to help him given their _history _and everything?

"The whole Sam and Quinn thing bugs you, doesn't it?" Finn heard a familiar voice ask him then, causing him to snap out of his reverie.

"_Kurt? _Uh, I have no idea what you're talking about," he quickly informed him, heading towards the cafeteria now, where Rachel was currently waiting for him.

Kurt ignored him and followed closely behind.

"Please Finn. There's a dent in your locker where you gripped it too hard."

He looked back for a moment to check, but he saw no dent.

"Made you look!" Kurt announced triumphantly, walking beside him now. "So, I _was _right."

"Look, ok, maybe you are," Finn conceded, facing him now. "But can you please just …"

He trailed off. Wait. Wasn't this what he wanted? Someone to talk to? It seemed like Kurt was willing to help.

"Uh, actually," he started uncertainly, glancing at the fresh-faced boy from the corner of his eye. "Do you have time for a little chat? I know I haven't exactly been…"

"Yeah, sure," Kurt answered, cutting him off, and Finn stood frozen for a moment, shocked by his quick response. "I think I see a bench outside."

"Why would you help me?" Finn had to ask, even though he was grateful that Kurt was willing to help.

The other boy laughed, already walking towards their destination.

Finn followed him and continued, "I mean, after everything I've…"

"Honestly Finn," Kurt interrupted him again, swatting a used tissue off the seat with a gloved hand before sitting down, legs crossed. "I'm bigger than that. Besides, we're most likely going to become step-brothers eventually, so we might as well play nice with each other."

"Uh, yeah, ok," Finn responded, taking the seat next to him, making sure to send Rachel a text that he would be bonding with Kurt over lunch instead.

She would _totally _buy that. After all, she was the one who had encouraged him to spend more time with Kurt the other day. Sure enough, a few seconds later, he got a text back from her.

_**Sure. See you in class. - XOXO Rach**_

He felt terrible to be betraying her like this. Thinking about another girl _was _still cheating, right? Like _mental _cheating? Again, Finn wasn't sure.

"So, you like Quinn again I take it," Kurt stated, a smirk on his lips.

He loved being right.

"Well, yeah," Finn answered, correcting him, "Except I don't think I ever stopped."

Kurt smoothed back his hair before telling him, "Not unnatural Finn. No one never truly forgets their first love."

"No, I mean, I'm actually considering winning her back," Finn explained, watching Kurt's mouth fall into an 'o'.

"I see," he murmured. "And Rachel knows nothing about this?"

He opened his mouth to say 'no', but Kurt was quicker than him.

"Of course not," he answered his own question. "Or you'd be dead right now, probably."

"Well, I don't think Rachel would _kill _me," Finn challenged him. "I mean…"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at him, silently saying '_Bitch please._' Finn stopped talking immediately. He knew Kurt was right.

"If you're so sure about winning Quinn back, then go for it," Kurt advised him, clarifying, "Just make sure you break up with Rachel first."

"But I'm not so sure I want to break up with her," Finn informed him. "Besides, Quinn sort of rejected me last night when I told her I still loved her. Well, not _reject_, but…Ok, my exact words were 'I think I'm still in love with you Quinn.' and she answered, 'Well, Sam doesn't _think_. He _knows_.' or something like that."

"Can you blame the girl?" Kurt wondered, waving to Mercedes, Tina, and Mike as they strolled by, all of them confused as to why Kurt and Finn were spending their lunch break together. "You're still with Rachel. You can't have your cake and eat it too."

"Well, I…" he started, but the bell rang.

"Look Finn, I have to get to class," Kurt informed him, adjusting the shoulder strap of his bag. "Just remember, choose the girl you can't live without, not the one you can live with."

Finn opened his mouth to say something, but Kurt put up a finger to stop him, shaking his head.

"No, you may _not _have them both," he reminded him, walking away, adding, "Personally, I think you should pick Quinn just so I can have Sam."

Finn blanched for a moment.

"Oh for God's sake Finn!" Kurt commented, rolling his eyes. "I was _joking_. Text me and tell me how everything goes."

"Thanks Kurt," he said to his retreating figure, although he doubted he would be texting the boy anytime soon.

Well, _that _was pointless. Kurt hadn't really helped much. Quinn. Rachel. Quinn. Rachel. He knew he would have to decide soon.

* * *

He swung open the door. _Yeah!_ He was ready to do this! He took off his shirt first. He was going to show everyone at McKinley just how sexy he was! He was going to…

"Finn? What the _hell_ are you doing?" Quinn asked him, averting her eyes from his body as she pushed him back into the boy's locker room.

_Ew._ She couldn't believe she was in here.

"I, uh, was going to walk down the hall in my underwear," he told her and the idea sounded stupid to him now. "You know, uh, like a test run before the real show?"

"That makes absolutely no sense Finn, but whatever," she said, heading out again. "I have to meet up with Sam. Good luck with your…_underwear _thing."

He let her walk away from him at first, but then, something grabbed a hold of him.

"Wait, Quinn," he called after her, running in front of her to block the door. "Do you still love me? I need to know."

_Wow._ He was never usually this direct with anyone, anyone except _Quinn_.

"Finn, we _talked _about this," she hissed, getting defensive again. "Now, _get out of my way_. It's _disgusting _in here."

"Not until you answer me," he stood firm, matching her gaze, which was harder than most people would think.

Quinn's stare was scary, like _really _scary.

"Not until you break up with Rachel," she shot back, eyes livid.

"Not until you break up with Sam," he retorted and it was then that he realized how close they were to one another.

She noticed too and with him only in his underwear, the heat between them was almost too much to handle.

"Why should I be the one to risk my heart, _huh_?" she questioned, swallowing hard at their proximity, but making no move to ease the tension.

"Risking _your _heart?" he scoffed, beyond frustrated now. "_I_ was the one who told you I still love you last night! _I_ was the one who put myself out there!"

"Oh yeah, how _brave _of you Finn, especially since you had Rachel as your safety net!" she shouted, hands on her hips.

"It's not like that," he assured her, his voice quiet now.

"It's _exactly _like that Finn," she enlightened him, her finger jabbing at his chest accusingly. "If you still love me like you say you do, be a man and break up with Rachel first."

"I don't want to hurt her," he told her, looking at her again.

He knew now. He would always choose Quinn. He liked Rachel a lot, but he _loved _Quinn. Always had, always would.

"Fine, then hurt me instead," she spat. "_Get out of my way Finn._"

He knew when she meant business and so he did. When she reached for the door handle though, he put his hand on hers. He had no idea where this moment of clarity had come from, but…

"Ok," he breathed, pulling her back towards him, her chest against his own.

He had one hand on her waist, the other cupping her cheek.

"I'll break up with her," he promised, searching her eyes for a response.

Something, _anything_.

"Really?" she whispered, afraid that if she spoke too loudly, she would wake herself up from this dream.

He nodded.

"I'll always pick you Quinn," he murmured, his lips almost touching hers. "It will _always _be you."

She closed her eyes. She wanted to kiss him so badly, but she knew it wouldn't be right. _Not now._

She pushed him away, leaving him completely confused (well, more than usual anyway).

"I'm happy you've made up your mind Finn," she explained, swinging the door open, this time successfully. "I really am, but we can't do anything until you break up with Rachel. I know what it felt like to watch you fool around with her when we were together and…"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," he apologized, asking, "Would it be alright if I told her after the show? I need some time to think about how I'm going to break it to her."

"Ok," Quinn agreed, lips pursed in thought. "I need to think about how to break things off with Sam anyway. He really is a nice guy, you know."

"Sure," Finn echoed, too happy that they were going to be together soon to even bother to disagree with her.

"I'll see you tonight then?" she clarified, wanting confirmation that they were both really going through with this.

"Yeah," he assured her, following her out.

"Uh no," she stopped him, her hand on his chest. "You make sure I'm not in the hallway before you step out. One, someone will _definitely _spot us together and start spreading rumors and two, well, if I see you walking down the hallway like _that_, I might not be able to resist."

She was teasing him, but her words caused his self confidence to soar. _Hell yeah_, he was going to rock this!


	6. Never Been Kissed

**A/N:** The episode this week was awesome. I came up with the missing scene about ten minutes into the episode. Yeah, I was _that _inspired. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. The first scene technically happens somewhere in between this episode and the last, but who cares, right? Please review and thank you for your feedback thus far. Also, a huge thank you for all the story alerts and favorites!

**Never Been Kissed**

* * *

Quinn sat on the park bench waiting for Finn to show. With every second that passed, she became more and more nervous. The change in the tone of his voice when she had asked him to meet up with her _before _he broke up with Rachel told Quinn that she had already broken his heart, even before this conversation they were about to have. She felt terrible about this, but her mother had a point. Despite what had transpired between her and her mother last year, Quinn still held her thoughts and opinions in high regard. At the end of the day, her mother always had her best interests at heart, she knew.

A few more minutes and she saw a dark figure walking towards her. As his image became clearer and clearer, she had the urge to run over to him and kiss him senseless, but she held herself back. She was doing this for their future, so she needed to be strong.

When he finally arrived at the bench, he made no move to sit nor did he breathe a word to her until she whispered his name.

"You changed your mind?" he questioned, cutting her off.

His tone was a little harsh, causing Quinn to flinch.

"Not exactly," she told him, patting the seat next to her for him to sit.

His features softened immediately upon hearing her response. A 'yes' would have been much worse.

"Then why did you stop me from breaking up with Rachel?" he wondered, sitting beside her now, a confused look upon his face. "I _swear _I was going to, for real."

She looked away from him for a moment before answering. Breathe, Quinn. You can do this, she told herself.

"Quinn?" he called out her name, knowing that something bad was to come. "Talk to me, _please_."

One more deep breath and she returned her attention to him, a wavering smile on her lips.

She was wringing her hands he noticed then and he put his hand over hers to calm her, assuring her, "You can tell me anything. You know that, right Quinn?"

She nodded, but all she could think about was how much harder this was going to be since he was being so wonderful about all of this.

"Do you think we fall too hard, too fast Finn?" she asked him and he blanched for a moment before smiling.

"Yeah, but isn't that a good thing?" he questioned in return and she shrugged.

Well, _that _certainly wasn't the response he had been looking for.

"I don't know," she confessed, avoiding his gaze again. "My mother seems to think that it isn't."

"I thought your mom liked me," he stated defensively and Quinn had to laugh.

"She _does_, which is why she advised me not to rush into things with you again," she tried to make him understand, but he only looked more confused upon hearing her explanation.

"And uh, _when _have we ever rushed into things? I love you, Quinn," he exclaimed and the way he said it with absolutely no hesitation made her heart flutter, made her doubt her decision to do this now.

"I love you too, but you have to admit," she told him, edging a little closer. "We're not the same people we were before we broke up. Things changed. We've changed. _I've_ changed."

"So, you _don't _want to get back together then?" he clarified, still trying to figure out the point to all she was saying.

"I _do_," she promised him as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Just not right now. I think we should get to know each other again, you know. Take it slow."

"_Ok_," he started slowly, uncertainly, treading carefully with his words lest he say something wrong to tick her off. "But can't we get to know each other again _while _we date?"

Alright, this was _way _harder than she thought it would be, to make him understand.

"I just think we should get to know each other _before _then, as friends," she suggested. "I mean, what if our relationship doesn't work out the second time around? What if you realize that you're in love with the me you only _think _I am? When's the last time we talked really? I just want to make sure it'll work out before we get into anything again. You mean too much to me for me to want to mess this up."

"I'm going to be honest Quinn. You lost me at 'second time around'. All I know is that we love each other," he proclaimed, taking her hands in his. "It's _going _to work out."

She remained unconvinced, biting her lip and he ran a hand through his hair in frustration, the other still holding onto hers.

After awhile he gave in and said, "Ok, whatever you want. If you want to get to know each other again before anything happens between us, that's fine. I'm going to do _everything _I can to make this work, ok? I want you to know that."

"Thank you Finn," she whispered finally, tearing up a little and he pulled her into a tight hug.

He buried his nose into her golden locks and took in her scent. _Damn_, he had missed her so much.

Then, it finally hit him. _Great._ He was back to square one, wanting someone he couldn't have, not yet anyway. Clearly God was punishing him for _ever _having let her go.

* * *

"_You_ were the one who taught Sam to think of Coach Beiste while we make out?" she accused him, slamming his locker door shut with a bang. "Do you _have _a death wish?"

The loud sound threw him off for a second, but Finn quickly composed himself, turning around to face her.

"Nice to see you too Quinn," he offered, stifling a laugh.

Even when she was upset with him, he found her completely adorable.

"Oh, you think this is funny Finn?" she questioned, hands on her hips now. "Do you _think _this is funny? He said her _name_! You couldn't have taught him the mailman thing instead? _That _I could have handled!"

He put his hands up in mock surrender, a chuckle on his lips.

"Now, in my defense, I actually taught him that first," he told her, leaning causally against his locker now. "But Sam needed something he could relate to."

"_So you came up with Coach Beiste?_" she hissed, but he only looked more amused at her apparent anger. "Honestly, do you know how _embarrassing _it is to hear your boyfriend whisper someone else's name when _you're_ the one making out with them?"

"I don't have a boyfriend, so I wouldn't know," he mused, his smirk growing wider still and that's when it hit her.

"_Finn Hudson! You did this on purpose!_" she shouted, causing him to pull her into a nearby empty classroom.

"Not so loud Quinn," he teased her, closing the door behind them. "People are starting to stare."

"Did you hit your head Finn and forget our conversation from last night?" she wondered, walking over to where he was currently sitting on top of the teacher's desk. "What happened to the whole being friends again thing?"

"See, as your _friend_, the idea of you making out with Sam didn't exactly thrill me," he admitted, his hands on her hips now, pulling her close. "I knew Sam would lose control over this _particular _coping mechanism, so I thought I'd have a little fun with you is all."

She made no move to step away from him, but still gave him the evil eye.

"Quinn, this is _killing _me," he shared when the silence had become too much for him to bear. "I still don't get it. We're in love with each other. Why do we have to wait to be together again?"

"Finn, I've told you this a thousand times. We're not who we were before the breakup anymore," she reminded him, a sigh on her lips. "We have to get to know each other again first before we start a new relationship."

This was killing her as much as it was killing him. He _had _to know that.

He raised an eyebrow, clarifying with her as he had last night, "But we're still dating other people because…?"

"Because if we're _not _dating other people, we're not going to be able to be _just _friends for awhile," she finished for him, her hands on his shoulders now. "Honestly, knowing that I'm dating Sam is probably the _only _thing keeping me from doing anything stupid right now."

"Good to know I'm not the only one who feels like this is complete torture at least," he commented, adding, "So, what do you say to me coming over to watch some movies with you tonight? I'll even bring takeout from Breadsticks."

She arched her eyebrow at him (classic Quinn) upon hearing his suggestion and he quickly assured her, "_Just _as friends, I promise. Besides, your mom will be there, so we're sure to just get to know each other again, right? No funny business."

Quinn pursed her lips in thought, mulling the idea over in her head. Ok, that sounded like a safe plan. Nothing ruined the mood like parental supervision after all.

"Ok, say eight o'clock?" she suggested and he nodded in agreement.

Honestly, he would have shown up at _any _time if it meant spending time with her. He missed her, _a lot_.

She smiled, looping her arms around his neck then and she could see the panic begin to spread slowly across his face.

"Uh, Quinn, what are you doing?" he murmured, looking up at the ceiling now, trying to ignore her and her proximity to him.

Her lips were so close to that sensitive spot on his neck. _Dear God._ Only she knew where that spot was. Think of the mailman Finn, the _mailman_. Think of the _freaking _mailman!

"Just a little payback Hudson," she answered, her hot breath on his neck.

He shut his eyes tightly as his skin began to tingle in response. _Think _about the mailman Finn. You ran him over, remember? Or think about Coach Beiste. Think about running over Coach Beiste. _Wait, what?_

"The next time you're making out with Berry," Quinn continued, her lips brushing against his neck ever so lightly, relishing in how he was reacting to her right now. "You're going to think of this moment Finn and when you do, even thinking about the mailman won't do you any good."

She walked away after that, leaving him (she knew) extremely aroused.

"Oh, and Finn," she toyed with him just a _smidge _more before she left, one foot already out the classroom door. "Try not to say my name, yeah? Rachel probably won't like that."

Finn could only nod numbly at her in response, words completely failing him at the moment. When he finally cooled himself off and could think straight again, all he could think of was one single word in the English language: _Fuck_.

Note to self: Try to avoid making out with Rachel today.


	7. The Substitute

**A/N:** Took me awhile to think up these two moments, but can you blame me? Reviews would be wonderful.

**The Substitute**

* * *

Finn strolled into the choir room. Most of his classmates were there already, but the only one he noticed was Quinn. He (of course) went to sit beside her. He knew he would have to move once either Sam or Rachel arrived, but he would take any minute he could get with her.

"Hey," he greeted her and she smiled back before responding with a 'hey' of her own.

"I had a lot of fun last night," he let her know and she rolled her eyes in response.

She was still smiling as she did though. There _were_ friendly eye rolls, right?

"You were falling asleep through half of them," she reminded him as she continued doodling in her notebook (the one he got her thank you very much).

"Fair enough," he agreed, although he added, "Actually, no, I sat through the second last one we saw. What was that one again?"

"Mean Girls?" Quinn clarified and he smiled, telling her, "Yeah, that one. I see where you three get your inspiration from now."

He motioned towards her, Santana, and Brittany. Quinn got nervous for a moment that the other two cheerleaders might have overheard their entire conversation. The expression on their faces, however, told her otherwise and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"_Excuse me?_" the two of them uttered in unison and Finn looked genuinely scared for a moment.

_What?_ Did he say something offensive?

"Well, uh, you know," he started to explain himself nervously. "Quinn would be Regina. Brittany would definitely be Karen and Santana would totally be Gretchen."

Quinn giggled as the two of them continued to stare at him still, making him even more nervous. _Oh God._ How was he going to dig himself out of _this_ hole? Suddenly though, the two of them joined Quinn in her laughter. In five seconds flat, Finn went from nervous to completely confused.

"You should have seen the look on your face," Santana commented in between laughs. "You looked _terrified_. We used to watch that movie like obsessively. Of _course_ we would have taken a little inspiration from there."

"Yeah, and I actually have quite a bit in common with Karen," Brittany inputted, a blank look on her face. "I have ESPN too and my cousin is _totally_ a good kisser."

Odd looks were shared around the room (as usual), but soon, everyone returned to what they had been doing before the mini Mean Girls discussion had started.

"By the way, I practically got no sleep last night. You snore, you know that?" Finn teased her and she gave him a small, playful shove in return.

"I do no such thing Finn Hudson," she insisted, turning her nose up into the air. "You were probably dreaming or something."

"Well, you can't deny that you drool at least," he continued, enjoying their banter more than he probably should. "Remember that wet stain on my shoulder this morning? I have your mother as a witness, you know."

"You brought that upon yourself," she simply reminded him, twirling a strand of golden hair around her finger. "You should have woken me up when I fell asleep. Rachel will _kill_ you if she finds out you spent the night."

He shrugged nonchalantly.

"You fell asleep watching a movie and I fell asleep eventually watching you sleep," he told her as-a-matter-of-factly. "That sounds completely innocent to me Quinn. We weren't even on a bed. It was your living room couch, which by the way, is actually kind of uncomfortable. Has your mom considered buying a new one?"

"_Completely_ innocent?" she clarified, raising an eyebrow in his direction. "You just admitted to watching me sleep. Any girl would think that was creepy Finn."

"Except _you're_ not any girl," he told her, causing her smile to reappear again. "You find it flattering."

Quinn was about to denounce his assumption when Santana intruded their conversation again.

"Whisper, whisper, whisper," Santana spoke up from where she was sitting, eyeing them suspiciously now and Brittany followed suit as best she could. "Honestly, what are you two always talking about? Don't think I haven't noticed the two of you _whispering_ in the hallways. You're not getting back together, are you?"

"I knew this would happen," Brittany announced quietly, clasping her hands together. "Like I said, I have ESPN."

"Brittany, _please_," Santana interrupted her, putting up a hand to stop her from rambling on before she confronted Quinn. "So, come on Q, spill. Britt and I would _totally_ be on your side. Fellow cheerleaders over theatre freaks, you know?"

"Shut up Santana," Quinn was quick to defend them (and Rachel, sort of). "Stop causing drama where there isn't any, ok? Finn and I are friends."

"Girl, _please_," she responded, rolling her eyes before returning to examining her newly painted nails. "Even Brittany thinks something is up. Subtlety, you two are doing it _wrong_."

"Just ignore her," Finn murmured into her ear, knowing full well that the Latina thrived on drama.

"Well, unlike _you_ Santana, I can be just friends with a guy," Quinn spat, evidently ignoring his advice.

Santana opened her mouth, prepared with another retort, only to be disrupted by Puck.

"Ladies, ladies, please," Puck started, strutting over towards them. "Stop fighting. The only fighting you two should _ever_ be doing is fighting over me, ok?"

Santana and Quinn shared a look with one another, ready to take his ego down a notch.

"In your dreams," they assured him in unison, each of them slapping him on the arm.

He pretended to flinch, but their slaps had hardly been felt on his part. With _these_ guns? Nah.

"Every night," he enlightened them, his signature smirk on his face. "Except with less clothes."

"Shut _up_ man," Finn warned him before he had a chance to elaborate, his arm moving protectively to the back of Quinn's chair.

Luckily, no one else noticed the action but her.

"Whatever," Puck muttered, shrugging his shoulders casually as he headed back to where he had been standing. "I have better things to do than deal with you lot."

He needed to concentrate on buttering the floor for the substitute. _Duh._

Moments later, Santana and Brittany returned to their conversation too, Finn and Quinn forgotten, gossiping about some brunette on the cheerleading team.

"Finn?" Quinn whispered, not wanting anyone to overhear what she was about to say.

Before he could acknowledge her though, they were disturbed yet again.

_Screw this!_ What was with all of the interruptions today? He wanted a few minutes with his Quinn. _Honestly, was that too much to ask?_

"Uh, am I interrupting something here?" Sam wondered, his attention currently on the position of Finn's arm on the back of his girlfriend's chair.

He removed his arm immediately.

"No, we were just talking about Mr. Schue," Finn assured him, fumbling with his words a little, Quinn simply avoiding Sam's gaze. "Didn't you hear? We're getting a substitute."

"Cool," Sam commented, sitting down beside Quinn the moment Finn got out of his seat.

Before Finn walked away, he heard him ask her, "Where were you last night by the way? Your phone kept going to voicemail."

"I fell asleep watching some movies," she explained, the half lie rolling easily off of her tongue.

"Quiet night then, huh?" Sam noted, grinning at her, _his_ arm on the back of her chair now.

"Yeah, I guess," she echoed, catching Finn's eye. "But I've been told that I snore."

Sam let out a small chuckle at her admission before proceeding to tell her about his night. Quinn had tuned out though and she only broke eye contact with Finn when he turned to question Puck.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

* * *

"You were killing me during 'Forget You', you know," he whispered into her ear as Rachel and Ms. Holiday prepared for their performance on stage. "I swear you did a few extra twirls in that skirt just to tease me."

"How can you be so sure? Besides, you weren't so bad yourself Hudson," she murmured, smirking at him.

"Alright, I'm going to stop you two right there," Kurt spoke up, hovering above them now. "Finn, scoot over one."

"What? Why?" Finn questioned, while Quinn was simply amused that Kurt was so perceptive about what was going on between them.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Someone needs to help dial down the chemistry between you two," he told him and Finn shut up immediately, doing exactly as he had been told. "Honestly, had I not arrived, you two would have kissed."

"We have more self control than you think, you know," Quinn pointed out, the smile on Kurt's face telling her that he was secretly rooting for them.

Kurt raised an eyebrow at her.

"You might, but Finn? Not so much," he stated, before turning towards the boy in question. "Might I remind you that your _girlfriend_ is about to perform a number from Chicago?"

_Girlfriend._

Well, that ought to put a damper on any sparks they had had between them just now, Quinn mused to herself as the (literally) red hot duo began to shimmy on stage.

Ten seconds later though, she received a text that made her change her mind.

_**Takes a lot more than Kurt, Q. - Love, F**_

_And all that jazz!_


	8. Furt

**A/N:** Long chapter compared to the other ones, but I had to do this after the episode. Also, I would highly recommend actually listening to 'Always On My Mind' by Michael Bublé, which shows up near the end of the chapter. You will get a better feel of the mood of the last scene that way and reviews always inspire me to write more, so please spare a moment and leave me one!

**Furt**

* * *

Quinn laughed as Sam twirled her around again.

"You are _so_ drunk," she teased him, a wide smile upon her face.

He returned her smile, except his was more of a goofy grin.

"_Love _drunk," he corrected her, pulling her towards him abruptly.

Quinn let out a squeal at the sudden motion, losing her balance. Although Sam tried to keep them up, he ultimately failed, causing them to tumble into Mike and Tina behind them, who let out surprised squeaks of their own.

"Alright, no _way _are you driving Quinn home like that," Tina told Sam, sharing a look of understanding with her boyfriend. "You can come back and get your car tomorrow. Honestly, how much champagne did you have?"

"Actually, only about three glasses," Quinn revealed as Sam pouted at her betrayal.

"You got drunk on _three _glasses of _champagne_?" Mike echoed in disbelief, already dragging him towards his car. "Quinn, you can get in the back with Tina."

After they had successfully gotten Sam into the passenger seat, where he was currently wailing (although appropriately) 'Love Drunk', Quinn denied his offer.

"Thanks, but I know my place is out of the way," she told him, taking a step back from the vehicle. "I can get my mom to come pick me up."

"You sure?" Tina clarified from the backseat. "Mike doesn't mind you know."

"Yeah, not at all," he confirmed, gesturing to the empty seat beside his girlfriend. "Hop in."

She was about to politely decline again when she was interrupted by a familiar, not-so-welcome-at-the-moment voice.

"I'll take Quinn home," Finn spoke up from behind her. "I have to take Rachel home anyway and Quinn's place is just a little further than that."

Hearing his voice kept her frozen in place. Sam had been a nice distraction all evening, but now that he was gone…

"_You are never going to believe what I just overheard," Quinn heard Santana gossiping to Brittany as they prepped for their performance. "Finn just told that dwarf that he loved her. How tacky, especially at a wedding, am I right?"_

"_Totally," Brittany agreed, only half listening as she waved for Artie to come over and join them._

When she realized that Mike and Tina were looking at her for confirmation, she snapped out of her reverie.

"Uh yeah," she assured them, forcing a small smile. "Finn can take me home. See you two at school tomorrow."

"See you," the two of them echoed as Sam began to wail again.

He was _damn_ good singer, but apparently, only when _not _drunk.

"You want to tell me what I did wrong?" Finn asked the moment the vehicle was out of sight.

She turned around to face him, her lips pressed together in a thin line. She was _not _happy.

"What makes you think something is wrong Hudson?" she shot back, arms across her chest now, observing their surroundings to make sure that they were alone.

The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene on Burt and Carole's special day. Thankfully, no one was within hearing distance of their conversation.

"You overheard what Santana said, didn't you?" he guessed and her surprised eyes were answer enough. "I was there too, remember?"

She avoided his gaze and turned up her nose, still intent on ignoring him.

"Oh come on Q," he coaxed, taking a step towards her and bumping her shoulder a little. "You can't get upset with me because of that. You _know _I always get all caught up at weddings."

"Yeah, but you and I both know that that's not the reason why you said what you said," she told him, looking at him now.

He sighed.

"Q, do we always have to go through this?" he wondered, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Yeah, I love Rachel, but I'm _in _love with you. Can't we just leave it at that?"

_Damn his cute, stupid smile._

"Fine, but anything _more _than making out and the occasional 'I love you' and I _will _kill you Finn," she warned him, only half joking.

He laughed upon hearing her threat, throwing his hands up in the air in mock surrender before leaning down to whisper into her ear, "Would be a pretty good way to die, Fabray."

She gave him a small, playful shove in response, trying hard not to smile as she enlightened him, "You are _so _lucky you're adorable, you know that?"

"Comes naturally," he joked as she rolled her eyes at him.

"What does?" Rachel interrupted, a wide, innocent smile lighting up her face.

"Your talent," Quinn said simply before Finn could say something stupid (well, _more _stupid anyway). "You were great in 'Marry You'."

Rachel wrinkled her nose in confusion for a moment. Honestly, when had Quinn ever really given _her _a compliment before?

"Uh, thanks," she responded uncertainly, shaking off the weird feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. "Finn, you ready to go?"

"Yeah," he told her, adding, "Quinn's coming with us by the way. Do you mind?"

Well, she _had _wanted some alone time with him, but she couldn't very well say no after Quinn had (oddly enough) complimented her on her performance today.

"Not at all," she assured him cheerfully as she got into the passenger seat, Finn holding the door open for Quinn to climb into the back before going around and sliding into the driver's seat himself.

He adjusted his rearview mirror before putting his key into the ignition, wanting to see Quinn from where he was. She smiled at him when she noticed the motion, shaking her head slightly at his dorky ways.

As the car began to move, Rachel tried to make small talk, but Finn and Quinn were hardly responsive. Eventually, she gave up, staring out the window instead, humming quietly to herself. She would be home soon anyway.

"_You are so cheating on Sam with Finn," Santana accused her, checking to make sure all the stalls were empty. "Fess up, Q"_

"_S, I honestly have no idea what drugs you're on, but these delusions of yours have seriously got to stop," she told her, bored, reapplying her makeup in the mirror._

"_Brittany told me that Artie told her that Finn and Sam had an interesting little exchange today in the locker room," Santana persisted, wanting anything she could get from the blonde._

_She loved gossip (like obviously)._

"_And what little exchange would that be exactly?" Quinn clarified, trying to mask her newfound interest in what the other cheerleader was saying._

_Santana smirked, revealing, "So apparently, Sam was talking about his reputation in the locker room this morning and Finn commented on how he couldn't even get you to be his girlfriend yet."_

_She paused for a moment, but Quinn had known her for long enough to know that she was merely doing so for dramatic effect._

"_Then, Sam tells him he's working on it, right? According to Artie, after Sam left, Finn looked a little upset, which he thought was totally weird, so he told Brittany, who told me of course, and so now…" she trailed off when Quinn put up a hand to stop her from rambling on._

"_And so now you're looking for a little confirmation for your suspicions," Quinn finished for her, letting her know, "Well, I hate to disappoint Santana, but Artie probably saw wrong or he's reading into things. When did he become such a gossip anyway?"_

"_Brittany's rubbed off on him a little I guess," Santana told her with a shrug, her original purpose for cornering Quinn in the bathroom forgotten._

_Quinn rolled her eyes and said on her way out, "Whatever. I have to get back to class."_

She had to smile to herself as she remembered their conversation. She had done a little (embarrassing) dance upon noticing that the hallway was empty. _Finn had been jealous!_

"What are you giggling about back there?" Finn questioned then, alerting her.

Rachel became even more alert than she was, glancing back suspiciously at the blonde.

"Oh nothing," Quinn answered, emphasizing, "Just thinking about _Sam _and his drunken singing is all."

"Oh I _know_," Rachel commented, turning back again in her seat, all suspicions evaporated. "He was _atrocious_."

"Yeah, but _funny_," she corrected her, emphasizing the word 'funny' as she caught Finn's eye in the rearview mirror.

He looked puzzle for a moment, wondering what she was trying to tell him before realizing what she _must _have been thinking about.

_Maybe. She had said maybe. 'No' would have been a more appropriate answer. He could think of a whole list of appropriate answers like 'hell no', 'fuck no', and 'not in this lifetime', but maybe? Where had that come from? Before he could give it anymore thought though, he noticed that Quinn was almost at the door. Oh crap. He needed to hide (and fast). He would never live it down if she caught him spying on her and Sam. Oh! Behind the guy who's currently rummaging through his locker. Perfect!_

"_Finn, funny seeing you here," Quinn commented, smiling at him knowingly. "Hiding behind a locker door? Really?"_

_He shrugged, grinning sheepishly at her, having been caught, "It seemed like a good idea a few seconds ago? I was totally not spying on you and Sam by the way. I was just passing by."_

"_Uh huh," she echoed as she continued to walk down the hall, him following close behind her. "Just like I totally did not say 'maybe' to Sam because I knew you were standing there watching us the whole time?"_

"_Yeah, exactly," he said before actually processing what she was admitting. "Wait, what? You knew?"_

_Quinn rolled her eyes._

"_Just promise me you won't become a spy anytime soon," she told him. "You're terrible at the whole being stealth thing."_

_He grinned and assured her, "I won't. You want to have lunch together today? Rachel needs to finish up some paper at the library, so…"_

"_Sure," she answered simply. "I doubt Sam and I are having lunch together anyway after our conversation just now."_

_And that suited Finn just fine._

"Well, this is me," Rachel announced, grabbing Finn and kissing him before she hopped out of the car. "See you two at school tomorrow!"

Quinn rolled her eyes as she watched the brunette bounce all the way to the front door. _Why was she always so freakishly energetic?_

"Uh Finn?" Quinn questioned a few minutes later, turning back to see her house fading off into the distance.

"Relax Q," he told her, turning into the nearby park. "We're taking a slight detour. I'll take you home a little later."

He got out of the car and opened her car door, extending his hand towards her.

"What are you up to Hudson?" she wondered, but accepted, getting out of the vehicle.

He didn't answer her and merely pulled her along until they were behind the swing set. Quinn had always liked the swings the best.

"Care for a dance Miss Fabray?" he asked, his hands on her hips now and she automatically looped her arms around his neck.

"Are you drunk too?" she wondered, giggling. "We don't even have any music."

"We've never needed music Q," Finn told her as they started to move back and forth. "But I do have a little something prepared for this special moment tonight."

She raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what other surprise he could possibly have in store for her. He only pulled her closer and when she finally relented, her head resting perfectly in the crook of his neck, he started to sing softly into her ear.

_Maybe I didn't treat you  
Quite as good as I should have  
Maybe I didn't love you  
Quite as often as I could have  
__Little things I should have said and done  
__I just never took the time_

_But you were always on my mind  
You were always on my mind_

_Maybe I didn't hold you  
All those lonely, lonely times  
And I guess I never told you  
I'm so happy that you're mine  
If I made you feel second best  
Girl, I'm sorry I was blind_

_You were always on my mind  
You were always on my mind_

_Tell me, tell me that your  
Sweet love hasn't died  
Give me, give me one more chance  
To keep you satisfied  
Satisfied_

_Little things I should have said and done  
I just never took the time_

_You were always on my mind  
You were always on my mind  
You were always on my mind  
You were always on my mind _

When he stepped back from her, her eyes were glistening a little. Under other circumstances, she probably would have teased him about not being able to pull off Michael Bublé, but tonight was different, she knew.

"Oh come on," he murmured playfully, cupping her cheek. "I know I'm not nearly as good a singer as he is, but…"

She shook her head, interrupting him, "It's not that Finn. I just don't understand why you would sing this song to me is all. You were _always_ the perfect boyfriend. _I_ was the one who screwed up. _I_ was the one who…"

But he didn't let her finish because his mom had taught him long ago that love means never having to say you're sorry and as much as Quinn knew how wrong this was and wanted to pull away, nothing felt more right to her in that very moment. Sure, they would both have to return to their respective realities tomorrow morning, but for now, having this _one _moment was enough for the both of them.

_Can we be in love again?_


	9. Special Education

**A/N:** Not the upbeat chapter that I had set out to write, but when scenes demand to be written, I simply have to listen to them. Also, thank you for your reviews on the last chapter. 10 reviews? You are all awesome. No, really.

**Special Education**

* * *

"Santana, are you in here?" Quinn wondered, strolling into the locker room.

She had been looking for the Latina everywhere and she was _seriously _starting to get annoyed.

"Can I _help_ you with something Q?" Santana answered a few moments later, coming out of nowhere and tossing her pompoms into her bag.

"Yeah, actually," Quinn informed her, putting on her queen bitch attitude. "Did you _have _to put Finn on the spot like that earlier?"

Santana scoffed, rolling her eyes at her trivial concern as she strolled past the blonde. Quinn reached out to grab her arm instinctively to stop her from leaving.

"You do _not _walk away from me when I'm talking to you," she warned her, spinning her around to face her again with much force.

"Yeah Quinn," she hissed, getting angry now. "_I did._ Rachel needed a major wakeup call and so, I was more than happy to oblige. Why the _fuck _do you care so much anyway? I thought there was nothing going on between you and Finn?"

Quinn ignored her question, pointing out, "You wanted to tell Rachel off. I get that. I want to too practically all the damn time. I mean, did you not hear her offensive Ken and Barbie comment earlier? But Finn does _not _deserve to be collateral damage."

"Collateral damage?" Santana mocked her with a scoff. "Do you _hear _yourself Q? You've gone soft. You may have been the head bitch in charge around here before Puck knocked you up, but you and I both know _I_ run things at McKinley now."

"I _let _you run things around here Santana," she corrected her, matching her intense glare. "Do _not _mess with me or the people I care about."

"Wow," Santana echoed, a look of genuine amusement on her face. "You _almost _sounded scary there. Relax Q. I'll leave Finn well enough alone…"

"Thank you," Quinn breathed, glad that she had gotten through to the raven-haired girl. "I really appreciate…"

"…once I have my fun with him that is," Santana finished her thoughts, interrupting her, her signature smirk on her face.

Quinn lunged herself at the fellow Cheerio then, slamming her back into the row of lockers behind her.

"_Get off of me you psychotic bitch!_" Santana shouted, attacking Quinn, only half because she was trying to defend herself.

It was only when Sue walked in several minutes later that the fight ended. Unlike the large number of teenage boys that would have _loved_ to have witnessed their catfight, their coach was less amused. Messy, tangled hair and unseemly ripped uniforms were not her idea of flawless Cheerios.

"_Get the hell into my office, now!_" Sue yelled and the two feared the older woman too much to disobey.

* * *

Finn slammed his locker door in frustration, ready for this day to just be over already. Couples counseling had been torture. Honestly, why was Rachel making such a big deal about this? He had lied, sure, and he was sorry for that, but she had no right to be upset with him for having slept with Santana. She had been with Jesse at the time! Besides, she had had him under the impression that she had lost her virginity to Jesse up and until that night she had made her little confession. So, had _she_ not been technically lying to him too?

His phone rang then. He sighed. This better not be another long text message from Rachel about how upset she was with him. He was on the brink of blocking her.

_**Where are you? You want to talk? - Q**_

_Quinn._ Thank you God for Quinn. He desperately needed to talk to her and not just about that night either.

_**Heading to the auditorium. Can you meet me there? - F**_

_**Of course. - Q**_

She was already there when he arrived and he felt an immediate comfort in her presence. He wrapped her up into a hug before setting her down again, the two sitting on the edge of the big stage, shoulder to shoulder, swinging their legs back and forth. Only then, under the stage lights, did he notice her still somewhat messy hair, a tiny, but definitely visible to him scratch mark on her right shoulder.

"What the hell happened Quinn?" he asked in concern, reaching out to trace the mark with his finger.

"Nothing," she whispered, shrugging off his touch. "Just a stupid fight with Santana."

She reached up to touch her hair. _Damn Santana._ Her hair was still a tangled mess despite having tried to tame the golden strands merely five minutes earlier.

"Comb?" he questioned, but he was already going through her purse. "Turn around."

She sighed, doing as she was told. She swore only Finn had the patience to do this.

"Wow, you must have really pissed her off," he commented, tugging at her hair. "What were you two fighting about anyway?"

"Nothing important," she answered, not wanting him to have to worry about anything more than what he was already dealing with today, namely Rachel Berry. "Besides, she looks worse than I do."

"I bet she does," he echoed, a tiny laugh escaping from his lips.

A silence fell between them for a moment, him untangling her hair, her leaning back into him comfortably as he did so.

"I know you may not want to talk about this, but how are you holding up?" she wondered, breaking the silence, smiling up at him. "Santana blurting that out of the blue must have been shocking for you and I doubt that the aftermath has been very pleasant. Rachel can be a little _intense_."

"Understatement of the year," he commented with a sigh. "How are you so calm and collected about this by the way?"

"Oh, I knew about you and Santana already," she informed him, remembering how angry she had been that day when someone had told her the news. "Brittany told me I think or Puck maybe. Believe me, I was so upset that day, but then I realized, I don't really have a right to be upset with you, do I?"

"No and neither does Rachel," he echoed, his voice a little harsher than he had meant for it to be.

He apologized quickly when he felt her stiffen against him.

"I'm sorry Q," he said, his hands in her hair again. "I shouldn't be taking this out on you, but Rachel has been driving me _insane_! She's blowing this whole thing out of proportion! The only reason she's even upset with me right now is because I did it with Santana. She said so herself to Miss Pillsbury. She told her she'd have understood if it had been you."

He paused for a moment when he realized his own words as did she. Oh well. He couldn't take them back now.

"Finn, have you ever wondered what things would be like right now if we had been each other's firsts?" Quinn whispered quietly, absentmindedly twirling the promise ring Sam had given her around her finger. "I wonder about it all the time."

He took her hand in his to stop her from mindlessly twirling that _dreadful _accessory around.

"Well, you sure as _hell _wouldn't be wearing this right now," he assured her, bringing her hand up to meet his lips. "I love you Quinn."

It was bare whisper, but she had heard his words.

"I know," she murmured back before slipping wordlessly out of his grasp.

Despite how magical that night had been, a promise ring was a promise ring and since putting the band on, she had been determined to be true to Sam. He was such a sweetheart and he deserved that much. She reached up self-consciously to touch her hair, noticing that her golden locks were smooth and shiny once again. She turned back to steal a glance at him and Finn smiled at her, fully understanding where she was coming from. That and the fact that he knew her well enough to know that her 'I know' had merely been a disguised 'I love you too'.

* * *

Quinn glanced at her watch, eyebrows knitted in concern. _Where was he?_ School had been over almost half an hour ago. Granted he was probably fielding questions left and right from his classmates about his breakup with Rachel. Somehow the news of their breakup only broke her heart. Of all the ways Rachel could have had her revenge on Finn, she chose to use _Puck_? To be honest, she was almost afraid to be standing here, waiting for Finn. She would probably only make things worse by reminding him that she too had betrayed him with Puck, but she really wanted to make sure he was alright before she went home for the day. Santana was such a bitch, a liferuiner.

"Quinn, you shouldn't be here," Finn said, the moment he arrived at his vehicle, a pissed off look on his face.

"I heard about what happened," she simply said, placing a hand on his arm in concern. "Are you going to be alright?"

"No Quinn, I'm not going to be _fucking _alright!" he shouted, the blonde flinching instantly at the overbearing sound of his voice.

She was secretly glad that no one else was in the school parking lot at the moment, watching this all go down. Rumors spread like wildfires around this school or any high school for that matter she supposed.

"Tell me something Q," he pleads with her almost, his eyes closed, one hand on the door handle. "Why Puck? You and Rachel, why Puck? Honestly, what the _fuck _does he have that I don't?"

Finn rarely swore, but when he did, Quinn knew exactly how upset he was.

"Nothing," she promised him in a soothing tone, trying to calm him down. "We both made mistakes Finn."

"Yeah, apparently I did too," he muttered, climbing into his car and driving off without so much as another glance at her. "Twice."

Quinn stood there frozen in place for some time even after he was gone, his car disappearing off into the distance. She tried so hard not to cry, biting her lip to hold back the tears. She could imagine how Finn was feeling at the moment and frankly, she had almost expected him to react to her this way, but his parting words had hurt her regardless.

Deep down though she knew that he had only said what he said because he was upset. She _knew _Finn loved her. She was special to him as he was to her and so, when he knocked on her bedroom door that night to let her know he was here (he had kept the spare key from when they had been dating), an apologetic look in his eyes, she merely shifted over on her bed, signaling for him to join her. He fell fast asleep moments later, holding her against him, his nose buried in her hair, but not before Quinn wiped away a lingering tear stain from his cheek with her thumb, whispering into his ear that she would _always _be there for him, that tomorrow would be a brand-new day.


	10. A Very Glee Christmas

**A/N:** Longer chapter because the inspiration kept rolling in. The snow angels theme resulted from the first Fuinntastic Friday prompt from Glee Forum. Happy reading and please remember, there will _not _be anymore updates until Glee returns for obvious reasons. I have a few other stories up my sleeve for the hiatus though, so put me on author alert! Reviews please?

**A Very Glee Christmas**

* * *

"You really think Sue did this?" Finn echoed, eyeing her uncertainly.

He knew Sue was evil, but to purposely try and sabotage Christmas? No one was _that _cruel and heartless, right?

Much to his dismay, Quinn nodded as she answered him, "Well, of course. No _way _one of the guys on the football team could have actually pulled this off without leaving some sort of evidence behind. Karofsky and the rest of those Neanderthals give the term 'pea brain' a whole new meaning."

There was a long pause before he spoke.

"I'm not part of that 'Neanderthals' group, right Q?" he questioned, air quotes and all, forehead wrinkled in seemingly real confusion.

Quinn giggled at his query. He was so goddamn adorable sometimes.

"Of course not," she reassured him, mouthing a 'sometimes' playfully afterward though (one which he caught by the way).

He knew she was merely teasing him, so he let her little insult slide.

Realizing she was right about Sue, however, he glanced around the still somewhat messy room.

"Yeah, well, either way," he started, throwing some broken ornaments into the trash. "We better finish up in here. I love how everyone bailed by the way once they heard there were free Christmas cookies in the cafeteria."

Quinn smiled, remembering how Santana had practically fought Mercedes to be the first one out of the room and to think she had thought that Santana would only ever go crazy over breadsticks. Boy, had _she _been wrong.

"True," she voiced after a moment. "But at least we get to have some alone time now."

"Yeah," he agreed, sharing her small smile. "Thanks by the way…you know, for being there for me the other night."

"Of course," she answered him almost immediately, after which an awkward silence fell between them.

The awkward silence, however, eventually turned into a little something more. As they continued to stare at one another, Quinn thought to herself, "Was his heart beating as fast as hers was right now?"

"I can't _believe _Sue even stole the window display presents," Finn commented randomly, desperately needing to break their obvious attraction to one another. "I mean, she _does _realize they're empty, right?"

Then, Quinn caught him off guard, a smirk forming on her face. He watched her lift a finger to point behind him, having spotted something in the corner of her eye.

"Well, she knew probably," she clarified for him, smirk still in place. "Sue makes it a point to know everything and yet Hudson, she didn't take the one _you _wrapped."

Upon hearing her words, Finn whirled around instantly in the direction her finger was currently pointing in. Sure enough, the empty box he had been trying to tie a bow on earlier was still sitting on the floor a mere few feet away from him.

"But _why_?" he wondered out loud, a look of confusion on his face again.

He walked over to pick the box up and began to spin it around in his hands, glancing quizzically at the item as he went.

"It was so crappily wrapped, _Sue _didn't even want it," Quinn teased him, motioning towards the tangled mess on top of the box that was supposed to be the 'bow'.

"Hey!" he protested, pretending to look offended. "That's not fair! You _know _I've always been terrible at wrapping gifts and crappily's not even a word. Even _I_ know that and that's saying a lot."

It was one of the many things she loved about him, she noted then, his ability to laugh at himself. It was something she had had difficulty with in the past. She was a lot better now of course, at laughing at herself. Having had a taste of the bottom had helped her mature in a lot of ways. That and she also appreciated being at the top a _hell _of a lot more now.

"Oh, believe me," she promised him, emptying the dustpan with the last of the debris before taking a seat at the piano. "I know. I'm the one who has to wrap your gifts almost every year, remember? Have you ever considered using gift bags Finn? Oh and crappily is _totally _a word because I say it is."

"_Sure_," he drawled before he grinned, remembering all of his mom's suspicious comments on his gift wrapping skills, but then he frowned, confirming, "You're totally going to help me wrap them this year too, right? I mean, you know I find gift bags a little impersonal. Plus, I need to cheat consistently, you know."

Quinn laughed, hitting random keys on the piano now for fun.

"Yeah sure," she told him, sending a little wink in his direction as he came to join her on the bench. "Why not? It's practically tradition."

"Except traditions change, right Q?" he asked her and she froze, her cheery mood instantly gone, because she knew _exactly _what he was referring to (or so she thought).

She swallowed hard at his question, even though she had anticipated it long ago. Every Christmas morning, Finn would come to her house for a bit and they'd exchange gifts in person. Then afterward, they'd usually go out and have some good old-fashioned fun in the snow before returning inside for some of her mom's hot chocolate (yes, with those cute, tiny marshmallows, thank you very much). Last year, however, was the one Christmas they both only wished to forget. It had been absolutely _miserable _for the two of them considering all of the baby drama that had gone down at the time. Yeah, she guessed traditions did change. _They _had both changed after all.

"Sam, will he be there in the morning?" he clarified when she remained silent.

Oh, so he was talking about breaking traditions again _this_ year.

"Yeah, probably," she breathed finally, unable to look at him. "Although, for the record, I do wish it were _you _ringing my doorbell on Christmas morning."

He had to smile at that. He didn't like the idea that someone would essentially be "replacing" him, especially not some boy who used so much damn Chapstick, but he made Quinn happy and he was personally too emotionally messed up right now to be _that _person for her.

"Me too," he agreed instead, their hands brushing against each other ever so slightly as they both reached for the same key.

Immediately, their minds flashed back to the last Christmas they had spent together.

"_Finn! You ruined my snow angel!" Quinn yelled at him as he looked down to take note of where he was standing. "That one was perfect!"_

_Oops, and damn, she looked pissed (adorable, but still very much pissed off at him)._

"_Aw, I'm sorry Q," he apologized, grinning at her sheepishly. "I was just trying to take a picture of you. You look really pretty today."_

_He held up the camera in his right hand for emphasis and he noticed her mouth quiver slightly as she fought off a smile._

"_Well, I don't want to take any pictures," she huffed stubbornly, arms over her chest as she started to walk away. "Now, I'm going to make another snow angel over there. Don't come over here and ruin this one."_

"_Oh come on Q," he started after her, camera still in hand. "Just one snapshot. You look cute with your little red Rudolph nose and all."_

"_Did you just compare me to a reindeer?" she questioned, spinning around to face him, eyebrows raised._

_Try to back out of this one, Hudson._

"_Uh huh," he confirmed with a grin, having known that his little comment would have made her turn around and face him. "Smile Q."_

_And before she could react, he snapped the photo._

"_Finn!" she screeched, bending down to pack some snow in her hand before running after him. "You are so dead."_

_He only laughed when the snowball hit him because soon he was chasing after her with one of his own. Fifteen minutes later, the two of them were lying in the snow, faces to the sky, completely exhausted from their snowball fight._

"_I totally won that," Finn noted, her gloved hand in his own. "Your aim is terrible."_

_Quinn giggled, assuring him, "I only let you win. Santana says you have to let boys win sometimes to stroke their egos."_

_Finn laughed, turning his head sideways to look at her._

"_Fine, whatever," he told her, holding the camera up with his free hand. "You win I guess. One last picture and then we'll head inside."_

"_We've taken so many already Finn!" she protested, but she smiled for the photo anyway, knowing he simply wouldn't take no for an answer._

"_Photos are important Quinn," he reminded her as Mrs. Fabray motioned for them to come back inside now, hot chocolate at the ready. "You know, in case we forget. I don't ever want to forget the Christmases we spend together Q."_

_She had to smile because he seemed so genuine in his words. She reached up to place a soft kiss on his lips then as they reentered the warm, cozy house._

"_Me either," she whispered softly against his lips._

_Finn was pleased with her response (and the kiss of course). Her father? Not so much._

His eyes connected with hers as the memory faded and he knew she had been reminiscing just now as he had been. He leaned in as did she, their chemistry undeniable, but just when their lips _almost _touched, Rachel Berry strolled in, Christmas cookie in hand.

"Finn, are we going to go and pick out that tree or what?" she questioned as Quinn quickly left, Finn turning to face Rachel with a disappointed look on his face.

* * *

On Christmas morning, Quinn awoke to the sound of a ringing bell. She reached for the alarm clock on her side table. _Who the hell was ringing her doorbell at six in the morning?_ She buried her face back into her warm pillow, knowing that her mother would probably get the door, but when the doorbell rang again moments later, she groaned.

"This _better _be good," she muttered under her breath, throwing aside the covers and running downstairs.

As she swung open the door though, she smiled immediately because Finn was standing there, on her doorstep at six in the morning, in the freezing cold.

"Finn?" she questioned, quickly pulling him inside and closing the door quietly behind them. "What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to be the first to ring your doorbell on Christmas morning," he simply answered, grinning at her, and she returned his grin. "You were hardly subtle in your little video performance."

Quinn rolled her eyes. She hadn't been trying to be subtle.

_Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas  
__This is all I'm asking for  
__I just want to see my baby  
__Standing right outside my door_

"Aside from the obvious message, you liked it though right?" she asked him. "Last time, you were pretty upset that I performed that Britney number solo for Sam, so I thought I would make a little Christmas video just for you."

"It was perfect," he assured her, having watched the video about a billion times probably last night alone.

Quinn sitting on her bed in her adorable reindeer pajamas with a cute little Santa hat on singing to him? _How could he not?_

"Nice um, pajamas by the way, although I had no idea from the video that you had matching slippers," he confessed, smirking slightly at her immediate reaction.

She looked down for a moment and wriggled her feet, which were currently nice and warm inside her fuzzy reindeer slippers.

"_Shut up_," she reacted, blushing a little. "Is that for me?"

She pointed towards the poorly wrapped gift in his hands, glad that the attention was off of her now, and he laughed.

"Uh yeah, wrapped by yours truly of course," he confirmed (not that she had really needed any confirmation). "Here."

She took it in her hands excitedly, catching his eye for permission to open it now. He nodded and she strolled over to the couch to open it. Many layers of wrapping paper later, there was a card and a rectangular box underneath that, maybe about the size of a small journal. She instantly smiled when she retrieved the contents of the white envelope. Much to her surprise though, she wasn't holding a card in her hands. Instead, it was the photo he had taken of them after their snowball fight from that Christmas, the one he had conveniently titled 'Me and my snow angel'. If that hadn't gotten her grinning like an idiot already, on the back, he had written:

_**Traditions can change Q, but memories are forever.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Finn**_

"You are _such _a dork," she informed him, giving him a playful shove, although her eyes were getting a little teary.

"Oh you think so, huh?" he commented, reaching over for the box then. "Wait until you see what's in here."

He opened the velvet case to reveal a beautiful necklace to her with (as Quinn should have guessed already) a snow angel for a pendent. Yeah, he was _definitely _a dork, but he was _her _dork.

He supposed he had picked this out for her though with a small, selfish purpose in mind. With this around her neck all day, like _hell _she'd be thinking about Sam.

"Come on," he suggested when she remained silent still, eyes gleaming with joy, motioning for her to turn around. "I'll help you put it on."

She pulled her blonde hair to the side in response and Finn swallowed hard at the sight of her now exposed neck. He tried to concentrate on the task at hand, but he ended up fumbling with the clasp anyway. God, he was such a klutz.

When she felt the chain fall from his hands, she didn't move from where she was, a mere whispered 'thank you' on her lips, and so, he took the opportunity.

"You're welcome," he answered and he heard her sharp intake of breath when his lips brushed across her neck ever so lightly.

She turned around to gaze at him questioningly when he pointed above them.

"Mistletoe," he explained, using that as an excuse for the kiss.

Quinn tried hard to suppress a smile.

_I won't ask for much this Christmas  
__I don't even wish for snow  
__I'm just gonna keep on waiting  
__Underneath the mistletoe_

"That was _totally _not there when I went to bed last night," Quinn remembered, scrunching up her nose in thought, playing with the pendent of her new necklace absentmindedly.

"Yeah, your mom put it up _after _you went to bed," he enlightened her. "Didn't you find it odd when your mother didn't come rushing down to answer the door?"

"You planned this with my _mother_?" Quinn hissed in utter disbelief, slapping him on the shoulder. "Wasn't _she _the one who advised us not to get back together yet?"

"Uh huh," Finn responded, a proud smile on his lips for having planned all of this out behind her back. "I guess she considers Christmas to be an exception of sorts."

The blonde visibly relaxed again upon hearing his words.

"Good to know I guess," Quinn murmured, leaning in to give him a small mistletoe kiss of her own (because mistletoe kisses totally don't count, right?). "Merry Christmas Finn."

"Merry Christmas Quinn," he whispered back, making a mental note then that their not so perfect Christmas had turned out to be pretty damn perfect after all.

_Make my wish come true  
__All I want for Christmas is...  
__You_


	11. The Sue Sylvester Shuffle

**A/N:** There were so many epic canon moments already, so excuse the short scene. Besides, you can never have too much Fuinn, am I right? Missing scenes for 'Silly Love Songs' will be posted on Monday at the latest. Please review!

**The Sue Sylvester Shuffle**

* * *

Quinn stood there in front of the bulletin board unmoving as the sea of students around her continued along their way. Finn was such a hypocrite, calling her out for caring too much about labels when he had been the exact same way not too long ago. She hated the feeling that had started to grow in the pit of her stomach after he had left her standing there in the hallway: guilt. She felt like a terrible person for choosing the Cheerios over glee club. Finn was right. When Coach Sylvester had kicked her off the team last year, the entire glee club had been there for her, even those she had been awful to before. Sometimes she really doubted that she could have gotten through her pregnancy without them, so what the hell was she doing right now?

Seeing the signup sheet Coach Beiste put up a few minutes ago only made her feel worse. In their time of dire need, _she _was abandoning _them_. She knew Finn was probably stressing so much right now over this new development. Losing cheerleaders for the halftime show was one thing. Having to forfeit the game because of a lack of players was another. She noticed Karofsky passing her in the hallway then. Like many others, he was rushing off to his next class. She almost wanted to go after him, to convince him not to quit the football team. She knew as long as she could get Karofsky to change his mind, the others would follow suit, but somehow, she remained frozen in place. Telling Karofsky that reputations weren't important at McKinley would one, be a lie, and two, make _her _a hypocrite.

"You've been staring at that signup sheet for the last ten minutes Q," Santana noted then, interrupting her thoughts, Brittany nodding in agreement from beside her. "You thinking about joining the football team or something?"

Unlike the rest of the student body, the three of them were about to head off to an extra Cheerios practice, which only served to amplify her unrelenting feelings of guilt. Sometimes Quinn really hated having a conscience, especially when a certain variable (read: Finn Hudson) was added to the equation.

"No," she finally answered her with a sigh, turning to face her fellow cheerleaders. "I just feel really guilty for choosing the Cheerios over glee club. Are you telling me you two don't feel guilty _at all_?"

Brittany chose to look down at her shoes to avoid the question, but Quinn could tell from her body language that the blonde felt as guilty as she did.

"Of course not," Santana responded, to which Quinn raised an eyebrow at her in challenge.

Quinn had known Santana long enough to know that she secretly cared. She was just a little better than most at hiding her true feelings.

"Fine, maybe a little," the Latina ultimately admitted under her persistent gaze. "Do we really have a choice though Q? Our reputations are at stake here."

"Reputations," Quinn repeated, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "I'm starting to _really _hate that word."

"Stop," Santana demanded, the guilt starting to get to her too now. "Have you forgotten how much we've given up since freshman year to be where we are right now? Are you really going to let all of that hard work go to waste? Besides, you've had a taste of the bottom before. Do you honestly want to go back there?"

Quinn bit her lip at her question. On the one hand, she had weathered the storm once before. On the other, she wasn't quite sure if she was strong enough to go through all of that torture again.

"_I_ like being on the bottom," Brittany commented amidst their silence, an innocent smile on her lips.

Santana shared a quick look of understanding with Quinn before the two burst out laughing, Brittany giggling too, although she really had no idea what they were giggling about.

"S, how come we're not like this with each other all the time?" Quinn wondered, liking Santana a lot better when she acted like a friend.

"I'm a bitch to everyone Q," she reminded her with a smirk as she glanced behind her. "But I have my moments…like now."

Quinn turned around to see what or rather _who _Santana had been looking at.

_Finn. Oh great._

"Well, I guess Britt and I will head off to practice first then," she finished, winking at her as she linked arms with Brittany. "See you there?"

"Yeah," Quinn sighed, the two heading down the hall together, satisfied with her decision.

The unholy trinity stood together, _always_.

"Hey," Finn murmured from behind her, giving her a goofy smile when she turned around to face him again. "So, Cheerios practice, huh?"

In a split second, her defensive mechanisms went into full gear. She knew what he was attempting to do. He was trying to guilt her into quitting the team.

"Uh huh," she answered him, her tone cool and collected. "You planning on lecturing me again Hudson?"

"Nope," he corrected her, running his thumb over the back of her hand affectionately. "I wanted to apologize for going off on you earlier actually. I was way out of line. I see that now. Forgive me?"

She shook her head at him and so, he took a step closer, repeating his earlier words, "_Forgive me?_"

This time, she smiled, nodding at him as she whispered an 'always' against her better judgment. She knew she was supposed to be at practice by now, but all thoughts of the Cheerios escaped from her mind when he was looking at her like that, like she was all that he needed to survive. In those moments, all she could think about was how much she needed him too.

"Quinn, do you remember the first time we met?" he wondered then, staring at the bulletin board as she had moments earlier, his hand still gripping tightly onto hers.

_Quinn smoothed out her dress as she stood in line, waiting anxiously to add her name to the massive list of hopefuls. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see coach Sylvester pacing back and forth, pulling unsuitable people out without even giving them a chance to audition. Needless to say, Quinn was nervous as hell. Even more nerve-wracking was that the first time Sue had laid eyes on her was when she had just reached the front of the line. Quinn could tell that she was assessing her from head to toe; nevertheless, she remained calm. Having stood in line for hours for this very moment, she was determined to sign her name on that damn signup sheet no matter what._

"_Quinn Fabray," was all Sue noted under her breath before continuing down the line of hopefuls once more._

_Quinn beamed as she watched her retreating figure. She was Sue-approved, which made the blonde feel a hell of a lot more confident about herself and about high school in general. Nothing could possibly faze her now, she mused._

"_Hey," a voice spoke up from behind her then, interrupting her victorious thoughts. "Can I borrow your pen for a moment?"_

_She was about to inform him that no one was allowed to use her pink fuzzy pen, but then she made the mistake of staring into his eyes. In that exact moment, Quinn knew she had found her weakness. She stared at him for a good minute or two before reacting to his earlier question._

"_Uh yeah, sure," she told him breathlessly, suddenly very self-conscious about how she looked. "Here."_

"_Thanks," he responded with a grin, stepping away from her for a split second to scribble his name on the next available line before returning to her side._

_Instead of simply giving her pen back to her afterward, however, he struck up a conversation, twirling her pen around nonchalantly between his fingers._

"_So, you're trying out for the Cheerios, huh?" he commented (and Quinn detected the dash of nervousness in his voice)._

_She quirked an eyebrow at him in lieu of an actual answer. How did he know?_

"_I saw you sign your name on the list just now," he explained, reading her mind. "Not that I've been watching you or anything though because that would be totally creepy...Then again, by the look on your face right now, I think I am creeping you out, so I'm going to stop talking now, um, rambling, uh…"_

_She giggled as her pen slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor then. As he bent down to pick the object up, his face a deep shade of crimson red, Quinn noticed a boy with a mohawk standing not too far behind him, face palming._

"_I'm Finn," he announced finally when he had regained his composure, sticking a hand out for her to shake, the other still gripping tightly onto her pen in embarrassment._

_Before Quinn could introduce herself to him in return though, she was interrupted by her two new friends, Santana and Brittany._

"_Sue wants to see the three of us in her office! Come on Quinn!" Santana informed her excitedly, pulling her away from Finn, who waved her off awkwardly from where he still stood._

_Yeah, Quinn Fabray thought with a smile, she had most definitely just found her weakness._

"Well, do you?" she heard Finn ask her again as she returned her attentions toward the present.

She noticed that he had closed the distance between them again and her mouth went dry, her 'yes' struggling to roll off her tongue.

"I want you to let me kiss you right now," he whispered against her lips and she shivered at the sensation, the feel of his arms wrapped around her waist making her feel confident and secure.

_Permission granted_, she almost wanted to say, but then she remembered Sam, and so she noted stupidly instead before running off toward the gym, "No, you never returned my pen."

When she glanced back at him once more before turning the corner, however, Quinn noticed him grinning at her response. In that exact moment, Quinn knew that soon, the only way she could keep her lips away from his would be some sort of divine intervention.

_Lord help her._


	12. Silly Love Songs

**A/N:** First of all, thank you so much for the reviews, alerts, and favorites! I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate those. Secondly, I know you all probably expected a fluffy Fuinn-centric chapter for this episode, but I went in a totally different direction. I think it turned out well and I hope you do too. Warning: Quam, Samtana, and Fuinn (of course) up ahead!

**Silly Love Songs**

* * *

Quinn checked her phone again as Sam turned away from her to rifle through her collection of DVDs.

_11 new messages._

She knew they were all from Finn. A part of her wanted to listen to them, but there was also that part of her that felt terrible about having betrayed her boyfriend, especially since he was here taking care of her right now. Sam had rushed over to make sure she was doing alright the moment school had ended, despite her insistence that she was fine several times over the phone.

After convincing her mother that he had had mono several times before and would be totally fine being around her, he had come up to her room. She had observed him as he tried to catch his breath and the look of utmost concern on his face broke her heart. She was such a horrible person. Whether or not she loved him, perfect boyfriend Sam Evans definitely did _not _deserve to be cheated on. He had always treated her like a princess, _his _princess.

"Quinn?" he spoke up then, interrupting her thoughts.

He ran a finger over the spine of her DVDs to make sure he hadn't missed it.

"I can't seem to find your copy of Roman Holiday," he said, lips pursed in concentration, his head tilted to the side.

"Roman Holiday?" Quinn repeated, a little confused. "I thought we were watching Avatar like we always do."

"Hey!" Sam defended himself, turning around to face her, a teasing smile on his lips. "That's so not fair! We haven't watched Avatar for like three weeks now!"

"Which is why I thought you'd want to watch it," she explained, not having meant to offend him. "So, why Roman Holiday? You fell asleep during Breakfast at Tiffany's as I recall."

"True, but this one might be better," he told her, turning to face the DVD shelf again. "Besides, I know watching Audrey Hepburn movies always makes you feel better. So, where is it?"

"Um…" Quinn trailed off uncertainly, crinkling her nose as she tried to remember where she had left it.

Maybe in the DVD player downstairs or in her mother's room. No…_Oh crap_. She'd left the movie at Finn's the other night when they were having another one of their innocent (literally) movie nights again.

"I don't know," she lied to him instead, the deceitful words making her sick to her stomach (well, more sick than she already was anyway). "Why don't you pop something else in?"

Sam shrugged, not noticing her particularly pained expression, and grabbed another Audrey Hepburn movie from the shelf.

"Charade it is then," he announced, slipping the disc into the DVD player before joining her on her bed.

He put his arm around her and she snuggled closer to him, the guilt really starting to get to her now, especially since her phone was vying for her attention again. She didn't know what was worse, the mono or the guilt.

_16 new messages._

Instantly, Quinn averted her gaze from the device, wanting to concentrate on the movie instead.

"You know, I think I'm going to like this one," Sam noted from beside her and Quinn turned her head away from the TV screen for a moment to acknowledge him. "Sounds exciting."

He was currently reading the synopsis at the back of the DVD.

"Yeah, it is," was all she could muster before she had to look away from him again.

Every time his eyes connected with hers, she had this huge urge to confess everything to him. She wanted to tell him about what had happened between her and Finn on the night of Burt and Carole's wedding. She wanted to tell him about the mistletoe kisses they had shared Christmas morning. She wanted to tell him about all the secret glances, the shared smiles, and the whispered promises, but right now, what Quinn wanted to confess to him the most was that Santana had been telling the truth, that she had cheated on him yet again, and that she was so, _so _sorry.

"Sam?" she declared after a moment, finding herself unable to concentrate on the movie at all, which was rare considering this was an _Audrey Hepburn_ movie. "We need to talk."

The second those dreadful words rolled off her tongue, she felt him freeze from beneath her and suddenly, she found the embrace of his arm to be suffocating rather than comforting. Sitting up, she reached for the remote, Sam remaining exactly where he was, except for the obvious void now where she should have been.

"Are you…Are you breaking up with me, Quinn?" he wondered, keeping his distance from her lest she see the tiniest bit of moisture that had gathered in his eyes.

"No, I just want to talk," she promised him, putting her hand on his, although she avoided his gaze. "Honest."

"_Ok_…Is this about what Santana said earlier at glee club?" Sam questioned now, having gotten a better handle on his emotions.

He shuffled closer to her.

"Because you don't need to explain anything to me Quinn. I trust you. I certainly trust you a heck of a lot more than Santana," he revealed.

_No, you don't._

She could hear the desperation in his voice, _anything _to not hear the truth from her mouth.

"Well, you shouldn't," Quinn murmured anyway and from the unchanging expression on his face, she knew he hadn't heard her.

She opened her mouth, wanting to repeat her words, louder this time for him to hear, but her execution failed and the words came out as a jumbled squeak. Sam swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up upon hearing the sound, his eyes swimming with worry.

"Why don't you get some rest Quinn?" he suggested, plumping up her pillow for her and helping her lay down. "You look a little green. Whatever you want to talk to me about can wait, ok?"

Quinn wanted to protest, but she _did _feel a little feverish. Plus, she took note of the pleading tone of his voice. She knew he was going to delay this talk for as long as he possibly could. Sam had probably figured out that what Santana had suggested earlier had been the truth. He was hardly naïve, but hearing _her _tell him that truth would crush him and so, he was going to go to any lengths he could to avoid hearing it. By the same token, Quinn realized that she wasn't all that different. Admitting to herself that she had cheated again was one thing, saying the word 'cheater' out loud, however, openly acknowledging that label, was another matter. She didn't _like _being a cheater. Sometimes these things just…_happened_.

"Ok," she whispered instead, closing her eyes as Sam pulled the covers up to her chin.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard him walk away from her. She felt like she could breathe easier with him out of the room, except he wasn't because she heard the water running in her bathroom seconds later. When he returned, he placed a cool washcloth on her forehead, a caring gesture that Quinn hadn't expected at all. She let out a satisfied smile at the sensation. She felt better already.

"Sam, you _really _don't need to do all this," she told him for the umpteenth time since he had gotten here, opening her eyes again.

Except this time, her reasoning changed.

"I don't deserve…"

"Stop, Quinn," Sam interrupted her, freeing a strand of her blonde hair that had been trapped under the washcloth. "We said we'd talk later, remember?"

A nervous chuckle followed his reminder and Quinn felt her throat constrict once again. She was hurting him and she hadn't even said a word.

"Right, sorry," she apologized, thinking it best that they talk later now. "But really Sam, you can go. My mom's going to be home soon. You don't have to baby-sit me."

They both knew what she _really _meant by her words. She needed time to think. They both needed time to think and so, he respected her wishes.

"Yeah, ok," he agreed, standing up from the bed in a motion to leave. "I've got a lot of homework anyway."

She nodded at him, giving him a weak, uneasy smile.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Quinn," Sam whispered, leaning in to place a kiss her cheek before making his exit.

"Happy Valentine's Day," she echoed, glad that he hadn't followed the sentiment with those three little words, the ones he would have said under normal circumstances.

He didn't look back at her once.

The last thing he told her before he left was, "You're wrong Quinn. _I'm_ the one who doesn't deserve you."

But his words were so faint that she doubted whether or not she had heard him correctly. Either way, it broke her heart (more so than it already was).

* * *

Sam let out a sigh as he closed her front door, looking up once more at her bedroom when he reached the sidewalk. Something had definitely gone on between her and Finn he knew, but he loved her enough to look past it. He could tell how terrible Quinn felt about cheating on him already without having said a word. Then again, maybe Santana was wrong. Maybe he hadn't been watching closely enough at the kissing booth. Surely, crafty Finn Hudson could have slipped a little tongue in there without him having caught it.

_Yeah_, Sam thought as he continued along his way, _that was most definitely possible._

His optimistic thoughts, however, were interrupted by his ringing phone then and Sam smiled. Probably Quinn, he deduced. When he looked at the caller ID though, a confused expression took hold of his face.

"_Santana?_" he questioned as he took the call, drawing a complete blank as to why she was calling him and on Valentine's Day no less.

"Do you not have caller ID? I mean, I know you're dyslexic and everything, but…"

"If you were calling to insult me Santana, a text would have been just fine," he informed her, bitterness in his voice.

"Gee, _someone's _a little touchy," Santana teased him from the other end of the line. "Fabray dump your ass already? Girl works fast you know."

"Hey, watch it," Sam warned her, not amused by Santana's constant need to pick on his girlfriend at all. "And no, Quinn and I are still very much together. We're fine, so I'd really appreciate it if you didn't stir up any more unnecessary trouble, ok?"

"I don't stir up trouble that isn't already there Beiber," she retorted and Sam could almost picture that condescending look on her face right now. "All _I_ do is add fuel to the fire."

"What do you want Santana? I seriously don't have time for your bullshit right now," he enlightened her, his voice a little harsher than he had intended for it to be.

"Fine," she spat back and he could hear the slight hurt in her voice. "Just wondering whether or not you were going to come to Kurt's little shindig."

"That thing at Breadsticks? Uh, I don't think so," he informed her, pausing in his steps when a familiar vehicle drove past him. "I don't think I qualify for the Lonely Hearts Club."

"_Oh please_," Santana muttered as he watched the car pull into Quinn's driveway. "Get off your high horse. Besides, Kurt says everyone can go. It's not just for single people or whatever. You know what? Forget I called. You're making me all depressed and shit."

"Wait, give me a second," Sam told her, crouching behind a bush, anger starting to bubble within him.

Moments later (and much to his dismay), his suspicions were confirmed. He didn't stick around long enough to watch the next scene unfold.

Instead, he stood up, turned on his heels, and announced, "Santana? I change my mind. I'll be there in five."

* * *

Finn rang her doorbell again. He was feeling so sick still, but he needed to talk to her and she was ignoring his calls. When Quinn finally answered the door, he could tell she was irritated, probably with him.

"Finn?" she questioned groggily, not looking the least bit happy to see him. "You need to go, ok?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized, realizing that she must have been sleeping. "Did I wake you? Is that why you haven't been answering my calls?"

He wanted desperately to believe that that was the reason. Quinn almost never ignored his calls, so when she did, Finn knew bad news would follow.

"Yes, but that's not the reason why," Quinn enlightened him, making no move to invite him into the house. "What are you doing here Finn?"

He felt his heart drop at her words, but he refused to give up on her, on _them_.

"I…Can I come in?" he wondered, peering over her shoulder to see whether or not her mother was home.

She shook her head, golden locks swaying against her shoulders.

"I don't think that's a good idea Finn," she answered, determined to make it clear to him that she was done with the cheating.

It would be easier to work out her feelings for the two of them that way.

"Quinn, something's wrong," he noted, taking a step closer to her and trying to mask how hurt he was when she took a step back from him in response. "Talk to me…_please_."

Quinn trembled under his unwavering gaze.

"Finn, Sam's been here taking care of me since he got off from school," she revealed and she noted the flicker of panic in his eyes.

"Q, you know I would have done the same if…" he started, but she cut him off.

"It's not that Finn," she corrected him. "The point is that Sam _loves _me. He's been nothing but wonderful to me and he certainly doesn't deserve _this_."

She motioned back and forth a few times between them for emphasis.

"_I_ love you," he reminded her, taking another step forward, except this time, she didn't take a step back. "We're _meant _to be together. Why else do you think we always circle back to each other Q?"

"Bad habit?" she offered as he wiped away the single tear that had fallen with his thumb.

"You know that's not it," Finn whispered, leaning in to kiss her.

Before his lips met hers, however, she came to her senses, breaking out of the heart melting spell he always put her in.

"I can't do this Finn," she told him, stepping back into the house, prepared to close the door on him. "Not until I figure out all these feelings, ok? It's not fair to you, me, _or _him. _Please._"

A strained silence fell between the two before he finally nodded.

Placing a kiss on her forehead, he whispered, "Alright Q. I've waited this long. I can wait a little longer. Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day," she returned weakly as she watched him leave, the gentle kiss having left her breathless.

Just when she was about to close the door, however, two objects caught her eye. Finn must have left them. Why hadn't she noticed them before?

She reached for the card first.

_**Quinn,**_

_**I'll probably be gone by the time you notice these things I left you. I made you some soup because I know your mom won't be home for a while and the box? Well, I think it's high time I returned your pink fuzzy pen, don't you?**_

_**Happy Valentine's Day,**_

_**Finn**_

_**P.S. I kind of burnt myself making that soup for you, so you better drink every last drop. Get better and I'm sorry I gave you mono.**_

_Great_, Quinn mused to herself as she took everything inside the house. _Two amazing guys and she was the only one who could put them both out of their misery._

She knew she would have to choose between them soon.

_Torn between two lovers, feelin' like a fool_  
_Lovin' both of you is breakin' all the rules_

- Torn Between Two Lovers, Mary Macgregor


	13. Comeback

**A/N:** Your continued support for this story has been astounding. Thank you. I hate to put the blame on Santana by the way, but I had to compensate for Quinn's character assassination somehow. Also, I hope I will be able to put up _happy _missing scenes for the next chapter. In the meantime, enjoy the angst? Please review!

**Comeback**

* * *

After a long talk with her mother, Quinn had finally decided to choose Finn. She loved him and he loved her. It was as simple as that. Dragging this on for any longer would be cruel, especially to Sam, who deserved to be with someone who loved him and _only _him. Feeling proud of herself for having made up her mind at last, she went up to her room to get some well-deserved sleep. When she was about to drift off, however, she heard a knock on her window.

"_Santana?_" Quinn hissed, slipping out of bed to let her in. "What the hell are you doing out there?"

The ex-cheerleader shrugged, throwing her duffel bag onto the carpeted floor before climbing into the room.

"I needed to get out of the house," she explained simply, making no move to offer the blonde any details. "Can I crash here tonight? I would have crashed at Brittany's, but then I'd have to hear her go on and on about Artie all night. Honestly, what does she see in him anyway?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever," Quinn answered, motioning for her to keep her voice down as she slipped back into bed. "By the way, you could always just tell Brittany you love her, you know. She'd leave Artie in heartbeat. You two are like soul mates. Any one with half a brain would know that."

Santana scoffed as the blonde shifted over on the bed to make room for her friend.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Q," she told her, resting her head on her pillow and closing her eyes. "I don't fall in love and certainly not with Brittany."

"Uh huh, keep telling yourself that," Quinn muttered, knowing full well that there was no use in arguing with the Latina. "Good night San."

"Sweet dreams," Santana murmured in return, Quinn's words distracting her for a moment from her real purpose in coming here.

She was _not _in love with Brittany. She loved her, but she wasn't _in _love with her. Besides, her sights were currently set on one Sam Evans. Minus those stupid impressions and shit, he was actually pretty cool, which brought her mind back to the little plan she was about to set into motion.

Turning around to tap her friend on the shoulder, she whispered, "Uh, Quinn? Are you asleep?"

"Getting there," Quinn informed her with a sigh, her voice slightly muffled by her pillow. "Why? Something on your mind?"

"Yeah, have you decided who you're going to choose yet?" she questioned, cutting to the chase. "You know, Sam or Finn?"

She propped herself up on her elbow to observe the blonde, who promptly shuffled around to face her, a look of confusion upon her face.

"Come again?" Quinn spluttered, not having expected her question at all.

"Oh, come on," Santana responded, shoving her playfully. "Just some girl talk."

"Look S," she stopped her, her eyes locked on hers. "I'm starting to think you're bipolar. Just yesterday you almost broke me and Sam up by telling the world that I got mono from Finn because we made out and…"

"But you _did _make out with Finn," Santana stated as-a-matter-of-factly, a smirk on her lips.

"Yeah, but you don't tell people that! What happened to having my back S?" Quinn reminded her, clearly upset. "Honestly, what kind of friend does what you did?"

"Oh please," she reminded her, waving off her concern. "Like anyone in glee club was even smart enough to take me seriously. Plus, I was only trying to help you out."

"Wow," Quinn scoffed, sitting up now, Santana doing the same. "This I _have _to hear. How were you helping me out exactly?"

"You were _cheating _on Sam, Q," she answered, rolling her eyes at how slow the blonde could be sometimes. "I was just trying to help you to do the right thing."

"Which would be…?" Quinn pried, to which Santana responded, "To break up with Sam _before _you pursued anything with Finn. I was just giving you a bit of a wake up call. You know how nothing gets through to you quite like a near public humiliation experience."

She eyed the raven-haired girl suspiciously for a moment before she finally bought her story. She supposed that sort of made sense.

"Fine, I'm going to choose Finn," she confessed to her. "I'm breaking up with Sam at school tomorrow. Can we please just go to bed now?"

Santana wanted to believe that the breakup would do the trick, but that action alone wasn't enough to ensure that Sam would come running to _her _afterward. The problem with Sam was that he was under the delusion that Quinn was the best thing to ever happen to him since he arrived at McKinley. That meant that it would take a _hell _of a lot more for him to let go of her, which in turn, made it a hell of a lot harder for _her _to make him her man. Quinn breaking up with Sam simply wouldn't be enough. He'd just keep chasing after her, trying to win her back. Santana realized about an hour ago that there was really only _one _viable solution to all of this. _Sam _needed to be the one to break up with _her_, which was essentially why she was here right now. Santana was going to make that happen.

"Quinn, you're not _really _going to choose Finn, are you?" Santana spoke up then, wringing her hands nervously under the covers.

Those acting classes she had taken as a little girl had done wonders for her devious ways.

"Santana, can you _please _just say what you want to say?" the blonde begged, not in the mood for her mind games right now. "I still haven't fully recovered from mono yet and I'm tired, ok?"

"Well, I was hoping to _gradually _convince you to pick Sam instead so you wouldn't have to hear this, but you leave me no choice I guess," she revealed, wanting to get this over with herself lest those feelings of guilt kick in before she played devil's advocate. "Finn was kissing Rachel last night. I saw those two sucking face with my own eyes. Now, how's _that _for having your back, hmmm?"

"You're lying," Quinn spat immediately, enlightening her, "Finn's just been waiting for me to decide between him and Sam. He's already chosen me."

"Fine, believe what you want," Santana drawled, acting like she was bored now with their conversation. "Honestly, why would I lie about this Q? It's not like I've got anything to gain from this."

"Yeah right. _You _just want Finn for yourself," Quinn accused her, wide awake now and starting to get defensive. "You want popularity more than I do, S. Ever since that championship game, Finn's popularity has gone through the roof. Of course you're going to want to steal him from me."

Her accusation was followed by a bout of laughter, but Quinn hardly found it amusing. She hadn't been joking around with her. She was dead serious.

"You're kidding, right?" Santana hoped, a look of disbelief on her face. "I mean, even if that _were _my motive, do you really think Finn would be interested in me? I think he made his thoughts on me pretty clear in the choir room that day or did you forget his whole "tearing other people down" speech?"

"No, I remember, but I _still _don't believe you," she confessed, not trusting the Latina enough at the moment to take her word for it. "Do you have any proof?"

"I'm sorry I didn't think to snap a photo, Q," Santana apologized sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I mean, come _on_! I was in a state of shock myself. You'd think that after all those goddamn fireworks between the two of you, he would have finally made up his mind between you and Rachel."

"I'm calling Finn," Quinn announced, her insecurities getting the better of her. "I'm going to ask him myself. I always know when he's lying, well, most of the time anyway."

"Absolutely not," the ex-cheerleader shouted in response, grabbing the cell phone from out of her hand before lowering her voice again. "Finn's gotten really good at lying if _you _didn't even sense that there was still something going on between him and Rachel. Besides, haven't you noticed that necklace she's been wearing? Finn gave that to her recently and there are plenty of girls who were at that kissing booth at the time to bear witness. I can call them up right now if you'd like. Is _that _proof enough for you Q?"

Quinn shut her eyes tightly then, her mind reeling with this newfound information. Coupled with her now breaking heart, she just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. How could she have been so _stupid_? Had Finn really been playing her all this time?

"You're absolutely _certain _of what you saw?" the blonde asked her friend one more time for clarification, to which she received a curt nod in response.

"That's right, girl," Santana promised her, putting her hand over her heart for extra emphasis. "You're not going to let him get away with this, are you?"

Watching Quinn's eyes darken, the ex-Cheerio knew what her answer would be. She could practically _feel _the anger radiating off her body.

"What do you suggest?" she finally wondered and Santana found herself letting out a smirk in response.

"String him along," she advised her, shifting a little closer to the blonde. "I know you've been kind of doing that already, but amp it up. Tease him, Fabray and then _yank _it all out from under him by telling him you choose Sam."

Quinn bit her lip in consideration, causing Santana to panic a little. She'd come too far to let this plan of hers fail now.

"Come on Q," she urged her. "What are you so hesitant about?"

"This isn't going to work S," Quinn responded, absentmindedly twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "I mean, your plan would entail me being all lovey-dovey with Sam. That would drive Finn nuts, but ever since I got mono, things have been kind of awkward between us."

"One lie Fabray and Sam would be putty in your hands again," Santana tried to reason with her, her voice more convincing than ever. "Admit to him that you _did _kiss Finn, which will put his mind at ease, and then lie about the reason behind it. Oh _I_ know! How about Finn choked on a gumball and you saved his life? Sam would _totally _buy that!"

Santana was counting on _exactly _that, Sam believing Quinn's ridiculous lie. She'd then swoop in and make him see how stupid he was being, that Quinn was treating him like a fool. She'd offer herself up as a plan of revenge of course. Not wanting to be played for an idiot, Sam would agree, and she'd finally get her man. Her plan was fucking _flawless _(as per usual).

"I don't know San," Quinn whispered, falling back into a sleeping position again. "Let me sleep on this, ok?"

"Yeah, sure," Santana agreed, but only because she could tell that she had already won the blonde over. "Good night."

Sure, she felt kind of bad that she was about to throw her friend under a bus for her own personal gain, but she had really come to like Sam and Santana Lopez _always _got what she wanted. Besides, once Sam dumped Quinn for her, the blonde would still have her happy ending with Finn. Quinn would have realized that she had lied about Finn and Rachel by then. See? She had _totally _thought this one through. The end result would still be the same. Quinn had been planning to choose Finn anyway, right?

* * *

Quinn stood in front of the door, hand raised, but found herself unable to ring the doorbell. She wanted to cry. She felt so stupid, but at the same time, she knew she couldn't place all the blame on Santana. The problem was that Quinn loved games, which always got her into all sorts of trouble. Evidently, she hadn't learned her lesson from last year, flittering back and forth between Finn and Puck until everything had blown up in her face. This was essentially what was happening to her again right now, except Puck was Sam this time around.

"Quinn, what are you doing here?" Finn questioned as he swung open the front door to confront her.

He had been observing her from his bedroom window for awhile now.

"Finn, can we talk?" she wondered, her voice meek, wringing her hands together nervously and avoiding his gaze.

"We have absolutely _nothing _to say to each other anymore," he responded harshly, prepared to head back into the house.

A whispered 'please' stopped him, however, and he turned around again to face her again, asking God to give him the strength to stand his ground. The last thing he wanted was for Quinn to see him cry.

"You told me you were going to break up with him soon Quinn," he recalled, looking everywhere but at her.

"I know," she acknowledged, an apology in her eyes.

"I went along with your little gumball lie because you said you wanted to take the cheating out of the breakup equation. You said you didn't want to hurt Sam more than necessary and so, I went along with it," he continued, ignoring her responses. "Then, you told me suddenly that you were choosing Sam. Now, I thought you were just having some fun, teasing me like you normally do, so again, I went along with it. The games didn't matter to me so much because I knew they were going to end soon, that you were going to be mine."

"I know," she repeated, the tears threatening to fall from her eyes now.

She knew she had messed up. She had messed up _big _time.

"No, you don't know," he informed her, a little moisture collecting in his own eyes as well. "You took advantage of me. You _knew _I'd be there when everything went downhill with Sam. _I was your second choice!_"

"That's not true!" Quinn shouted desperately, taking a step closer to him, wanting him to understand. "You were _always _my first choice Finn. Santana…"

"You know, all this time, you've been so paranoid about us getting back together too soon because you were afraid that we'd crash and burn again that way," he interrupted her, shaking his head in disappointment and preparing to walk away again. "Funny how things work out, huh Q?"

He closed the door behind him then despite her protests, refusing to look at her. With the door closed, the brave face he had put on in front of her disappeared and he slid down to the ground, his back to the door. He heard her muffled sobs from the other side of the barrier, sobs that seemed to be harmonizing with his own and there was something so bittersweet about that.

_So bittersweet._


	14. Blame It On The Alcohol

**A/N:** Super late chapter, but alas, school has kept me very occupied as of late. I added a _tiny _bit of Puckleberry in this one for _to lazy to sign in_. As always, I welcome feedback, good or bad.

**Blame It On The Alcohol**

* * *

"Get the hell away from me Santana!" Quinn shouted, drunk beyond belief now. "I hate you so goddamn much. You totally screwed me over with Finn. Fuck you Santana. _Fuck you!_"

Santana had dragged Quinn up to the living room to talk, but neither girl was in any condition to do so really.

"I said I was sorry Q!" Santana cried out in return, equally hysterical. "I fucked up. I figured you were going to choose Finn anyway, you know? I thought I had everything totally figured out, that I'd found a way to get both of us what we wanted."

"Shut up!" the blonde shot back, her eyes livid, the room starting to spin a little. "Stop with that both of us business. You're a selfish _bitch _Santana! Even Brittany probably thinks that. Why else would she have chosen Artie over you?"

Hearing those words spill from her lips caused them both to freeze, acting to snap both of them out of their drunkenness (well, somewhat anyway). Santana stood there in silence, a hurt look in her eyes, teeth gnawing at her lower lip. Quinn noticed that she was shaking a little even and she knew she had crossed a line, no matter how hurt she was over the whole Finn thing.

"Oh God San," Quinn told her apologetically, stumbling over to her with her arms wide open. "I shouldn't have said that."

She wrapped them carelessly around the Latina and unable to hold both their weight, the two toppled onto the coach behind them. Quinn groaned at the contact, rolling over so that she was sitting beside her now.

"No, I deserved that," Santana admitted, breaking into soft sobs. "I am such a self-centered bitch. Everyone _hates _me Q. Even you and Brittany hate me now. I am _such _a fuck up."

Quinn giggled, finding slight satisfaction in her admission. Who said she was _only _the angry drunk?

"Yes, yes you are," the blonde agreed, eyebrow quirked as she added, "But aren't we all?"

Santana smiled at the sentiment, spluttering as a strand of her hair accidentally got into her mouth.

"I'm really sorry I messed things up with you and Cabbage Patch," she apologized, linking arms with the blonde. "I'll break up with Sam if it means us being friends again."

Quinn tried to sit up on the coach, but that only hurt her head, so she returned to her previous position, opting to turn her head to the side to face Santana instead.

"No, then we'll both lose, which means your conniving little plan would have been for nothing," she slurred, a lazy grin on her lips.

"Thanks Q," Santana hiccupped, glancing around the room for a goddamn drink. "I really like Sam you know. His froggy lips are a total turn on, much more of turn on than Cabbage Patch anyway. Why do you think I call him that?"

"Hey!" Quinn quipped, defending her…well, she really didn't know what she and Finn were anymore. "He has _plenty _of sex appeal. I want to do dirty, _dirty _things to him, you know."

"_Oh God_," Santana interrupted her, pressing a finger to her lips to shut her up. "I'm not drunk enough to hear this Q. Hold on."

She sat up, neck strained toward the kitchen.

"Puckerman! Stop making out with Berry for a moment and get Quinn and me a drink!"

Quinn covered her ears to soften the blow of her harsh voice. Her head was throbbing. She should never have allowed herself to get this drunk. Alcohol and her were a bad, _bad _mix.

"Jesus, San," Puck responded moments later, Quinn thankful that he had kept his voice at a comparatively lower volume. "Stop shouting. Here."

He handed two beers to them, Santana scrunching her nose up in disgust at his offer, wanting something stronger, and Quinn done with drinking for the night.

"I made the trip over here for nothing?" Puck spat, a little pissed, but he smiled again when he heard Rachel calling him back to the kitchen, a bout of giggles not far behind her plea. "Whatever."

Santana rolled her eyes, making an effort to get up from the couch and surprisingly succeeded.

"Asshole," she commented under her breath, dragging Quinn up from the couch with her. "We should probably head back downstairs."

"_No!_" the blonde shouted in panic, pulling away from her. "I can't go back down there! Watching you make out with Sam all the time is hard enough, but with _him _there too? _It's just unbearable!_"

Evidently, her words had set Quinn off again. Santana's heart dropped, really taking note of how sad her friend was for the first time.

"Oh shit," she commented, walking over to Quinn again who kept stepping back from her in response. "I'll get Finn back for you. I have a plan. I'm good with plans, even the non-selfish ones."

"It wouldn't matter," she answered, tears in her eyes. "Finn _hates _me. I broke his heart."

"Oh please, like Cabbage Patch could _ever _hate you," Santana corrected her, grabbing a hold of her wrist and dragging her to the front door. "I bet he has some shrine to you in his room that he worships every night. Is there a special place near here Q that the two of you share?"

Quinn frowned, her question ringing in her ears. Her mind immediately flashed to the park where they had danced after Burt and Carole's wedding. That was a special place she concluded and so, she nodded in response.

"Alright," Santana echoed, motioning for her to step outside. "I'll walk you there. We both need to sober up anyhow."

* * *

Once Santana had walked Quinn to the park and gotten her semi-sobered up, she returned to the party. Surveying the room, she found Finn sitting on the coach looking bored, waiting to drive everyone home.

"Finnocence," she greeted him, hands on her hips and a false smile on her lips. "Fancy seeing you here."

He rolled his eyes, not in the mood to entertain her tonight.

"Santana, _leave me alone_," he stated with fervor, getting up from the couch and making a move to walk past her.

"You don't have to be such an asshole Finn," Santana snapped at him, a little pissed with his attitude. "Quinn just ran out of here alone. You know, like by herself? Just thought you'd like to know."

"And why's that?" he clarified, his expression unreadable.

"Look, she's drunk as hell and I'm worried, ok?" Santana enlightened him, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I tried to catch up with her, but she was too fast for me. I mean, what if she gets run over by some goddamn car or something? If you don't give a shit though, I'll just go and look for her myself."

Finn hesitated and as she had expected, he turned around again to face her, unmistakable worry in his eyes.

"You're sure?" he questioned, eyeing her warily. "This better not be another one of your sick games Santana because Quinn me-"

He managed to cut himself off before the rest of the words could roll off his tongue, but the Latina already knew what he was about to say.

"Means a heck of a lot to you even though you've been trying to act like you're over her after the whole you vs. Sam thing?" she finished for him knowingly, pointing over her shoulder at her drunk boyfriend for emphasis. "I know Cabbage Patch, but you might want to let _Quinn _know that because she's been crying a lot tears over you lately."

A wavering expression passed over his face upon hearing this new information and the more he thought about how much he must mean to Quinn too, the faster his heart beated, the shallower his breathing. Just as suddenly, however, he remembered how hurt he had been after she had come to see him that night, how much she had made him feel like another pawn in one of her many chess games.

_Checkmate._

"You know what?" Finn started again, changing his tune. "You go ahead and look for her because this time, I'm not running after her. _She _was the one who broke _my _heart. _She _was the one who hurt _me_. I'm done."

"For fuck's sake Finn," Santana cried, slapping him on the arm, hoping that would wake him up. "Suck it up. Stop with all that broken hearts crap. We're in _high school_. We're young and stupid, some of us more than others…"

"_Hey!_" he interjected, looking very much offended, to which Santana quickly assured him, "I didn't say _you _Hudson. I was _thinking _it, but I didn't say it. Anyway, my point is that we're all trying to find ourselves, discover who we are or some cliché shit like that. We're _going _to get lost and probably hurt a few people on the way, break a few hearts, you know? But who _hasn't _gone through high school without a heartbreak or two, hmmm? I guess when you're in love with Quinn Fabray that number gets quadrupled or whatever, but she's _damn _worth it and you know that."

"Maybe I don't," Finn maintained, refusing to give Santana the satisfaction of being right.

The Latina remained silent, arms across her chest, lips pursed. She could read him like an open book. She started the countdown. In about five, four, three, two…

"But say I _did _know that," he murmured, avoiding her gaze. "Which direction was she headed in?"

Santana smirked. _Right on cue Cabbage Patch._

"Well, she seemed to be heading home, but I called her mother a few minutes ago to check and she wasn't there," she informed him, finger to her lips in thought. "Maybe you should check the park near her house?"

"Thanks," Finn sounded before running up the stairs, cell phone to his ear, hoping to get a hold of Quinn.

Santana watched him leave before grabbing a fresh glass and pouring herself another drink. Oh yeah, _never _a dull moment.

* * *

Finn found her sitting on one of the swings, head resting against the cold metal chain, rocking back and forth every so slightly.

"Quinn," he called out as he ran over to her, obvious concern in his voice.

She raised her head upon hearing _him _say her name, unsure of whether or not she was hallucinating at the moment.

"Finn?" she clarified even though he was standing in front of her, clear as day. "What are _you _doing here?"

She stood up, stumbling forward, Finn catching her in his arms.

"I'm not exactly sure," he told her honestly, picking her up gently and heading over to one of the benches to set her down.

_Santana_, Quinn figured out.

When he sat down to join her, she snuggled up to him, her head resting in the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry I broke your heart," she murmured, eyes getting a little droopy as her tiredness caught up with her. "You know, again."

He kissed the top of her head in response, but informed her, "I know you are, but I'm not ready to forgive you just yet."

His unexpected response caught her off guard and she sat up, suddenly alert, observing him.

After a moment of contemplation, she spoke.

"You need time," she stated simply and he nodded in confirmation, grabbing her hand and lacing his fingers through hers.

"Yeah, but I love you Q," he reminded her, giving her a small smile. "You know that right?"

"Uh huh," the blonde assured him, about to return the sentiment. "I lo-"

But she didn't get to finish her statement, the contents of her stomach drowning out her words.

* * *

Somehow Finn had managed to avoid getting any of her puke on him as he carried her home. He had been so hurried to find her that he had run all the way to the park, leaving his car behind in Rachel's driveway. He knew he would have to go back there soon and drive everyone home, but right now, all he wanted to do was to make sure that Quinn was safe at home, in her bed, sleeping off all the alcohol in her system.

Like the gentleman that he was, he helped her wash up and slip into her pajamas before tucking her into bed. Like the teenage boy that he was, he _might _have peeked.

"Thanks for taking care of me," she whispered as he pulled the covers up to her chin, a soft sigh escaping from her slightly parted lips.

She paused for a moment before she added, "Oh, and I love you too."

He smiled at her words, some inner voice coaxing him to lean in and kiss her. When she opened her eyes in slight surprise at the feel of his lips against hers, he realized what he was doing and took a step back.

"Oh gee," he muttered, running a hand through his hair as he fumbled toward the door. "I meant what I said at the park Q, about needing time. I shouldn't have kissed you. I…"

"Finn?" she interrupted his rambling, a sad smile on her lips, though he hardly noticed in his flustered state. "Forget the kiss. We'll just…blame it on the alcohol."

He nodded, saying a quick goodnight and closing the door tightly behind him before making a beeline for the front door. Only when he hit the pavement did he realize that her excuse was flawed. _She _might have been drunk, but _he _had been completely sober.


	15. Sexy

**A/N:** So, how awesome was the last episode? I am forever on a Fuinn cloud. I was going to stop with the one scene, but something drove me to write that last bit at the end. Happens right before the Fuinn flashback on the show of course. Also, I would like to dedicate this chapter to **kalyn19**, who was feeling a little down last week. Hope you're feeling better!

**Sexy**

* * *

As Quinn placed her books into her locker, her right hand reached up subconsciously to touch the necklace Mrs. Pillsbury-Howell had given to her and Rachel at the last club meeting. She only realized she was playing with the intricate pendant when she caught her reflection in her locker mirror. _Oh damn_, not again. Stopping her hand from sliding the lock back and forth along the chain, she reached for the key she had hung on the hook, letting the shiny object rest on her palm.

It seemed so out of place here, she thought to herself.

Quinn wanted so badly to just hand the key over to Finn. He was the only one who should ever possess the trinket after all.

"Quinn," she heard a familiar voice call out for her then and she shut her locker door immediately, alert.

She nodded at him in acknowledgement, but turned around and started to walk away in the opposite direction. She hoped that Finn wouldn't ask her why she had slammed her locker door shut so quickly upon seeing him (not to mention so forcefully). She was in no mood to lie.

Thankfully, he didn't.

"How have you been?" he wondered instead when he reached her side, his voice strained, but pleasant.

He followed her as she continued to stride through the halls with purpose, head held high as she went. To those who didn't know any better, ex-cheerleader Quinn Fabray actually looked like she was dying to get to her next class. In truth, she was just trying to avoid _him_. The faster she got to class, the shorter their conversation.

"Uh fine," Quinn answered him simply, giving him a small, uneasy smile. "How have _you _been?"

Ever since he had kissed her that night, things had been a little…_awkward _between them to say the very least. Both of them were trying so hard to act like that kiss had never happened, neither having the slightest clue as to how the other was failing miserably at it too.

He paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating about something or another before he finally said, "Come with me."

She noticed the look of urgency in his eyes, which stalled her in her response. Before a single word could escape from her lips, however, Finn grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her toward the auditorium, the closest place to them at the moment that would offer them some privacy.

"Finn? What's gotten into you?" the blonde questioned, half surprised, the other half slightly worried over his unusual behavior.

(Alright, so the hint of mystery thrilled her too.)

"Are you feeling ok?"

He continued to drag her along, lips pressed into a thin line. He only filled her in when the doors of the auditorium once again fell back into their proper place behind them.

He let go of her wrist, took a deep breath for courage (as Blaine would suggest), and started to speak right away, not letting Quinn get a word in edgewise.

"Quinn, we can't go on pretending like that kiss never happened," he reasoned with her, gathering his thoughts. "It's unhealthy. I don't know about you, but I've been going absolutely _insane _over this. That _one _moment has been playing over and over again inside my head since it happened. Do you _know _what that's like? My head's like a _freaking _movie theatre, except there's only one film showing all the damn time _and _there's no popcorn!"

Quinn let out a wide grin when his heated words reached her ears, watching in amusement as he continued to pace back and forth in front of her, frustration written all over his face. The over the top hand gestures he was making didn't exactly help matters either.

"Plus, the 'how have you been?' routine we've been doing is _seriously _getting old," Finn persisted, stopping in his tracks to look at her only when the sound of her giggles disrupted his train of thought.

The blonde put a hand over her mouth in attempt to suppress her giggles, but to no avail.

Needless to say, Finn was _less _than amused.

"Why are you laughing? Did I _say _something funny? I'm being completely serious here, Q!" he shouted at her in exasperation.

"You're right," she agreed, biting her tongue to keep her laughter under control. "I'm sorry. You were saying?"

Finn ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"I don't know," he muttered, taking an aisle seat, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Why can't things just be simple between us, Q? I mean, there was all that drama last year and then this year, we wanted each other, but we had to wait. Then, you broke my heart and I was saying all of this bullshit the other night about how I needed time to forgive you when God knows I already did at the park when you looked at me with those doe eyes of yours and apologized. Loving you drives me crazy. Do you know that Quinn?"

He was breathing hard now, his eyes locked on hers. The playful smile on her lips was absolute _torture _for him, making him feel like an idiot for all the nonsense he had blurted out just now. He almost had the urge to get up, walk past her, and just pretend like this moment hadn't happened either. At this point, why the hell not, right?

But then, that ridiculous thought evaporated from his mind. He watched, mesmerized, as she slid onto his lap and grabbed him forcefully by his shirt, the light blue fabric bunched up in her delicate hands. He saw the familiar flicker of mischief in her eyes and when her lips made contact with his, ever so lightly, he found himself wrapping his arms around her slender waist in response.

He pulled her closer to him, wanting to deepen the kiss, to _savor _what she was offering him. For some reason or another, however, she leaned back again soon afterward, revoking his access to her soft, pink lips. His own parted slightly in protest, but before he could complain, she explained herself (well, sort of).

"You talk a lot Hudson," she noted, a teasing twinkle in her eye, golden hair spilling over her shoulders. "Do _you _know that?"

"I'm good with not talking as long as you're the one shutting me up Fabray," he returned, leaning forward to kiss her again.

She spread her hands out on his chest and pushed him back, smoothing out the wrinkles she had made in his shirt in the process. She wasn't done talking.

"And if I recall," she prodded on, looking at him through her eyelashes, taunting him. "_You _were the one who wanted to forget that kiss. _I_ merely went along with your wishes."

"Yeah," he admitted, adding, "But then I realized that your little excuse for us that night was flawed. _You _were drunk Fabray, but _I_ was completely sober. I can't exactly 'blame it on the alcohol' like you now, can I?"

She threw her head back to laugh, exposing her long, slender neck to him. Finn swallowed hard. Her neck was his kryptonite. _Aw, hell._ Quinn Fabray was his kryptonite, _period_.

"Drunk or not drunk, I think you would have remembered that kiss Finn," she murmured, lips in close proximity to his again.

"I remember _all _our kisses Fabray," he whispered to her in promise before flesh melded with flesh once more.

He ran his hands over the expanse of her back as Quinn laced her hands through his hair, pulling him even closer. She was straddling him now and as she ran her tongue along his lower lip, a soft moan was heard from the brunette, who slipped his tongue into her mouth in response. Not even the ringing bell could interrupt their moment, tongues swirling in a wordless 'I missed you'.

_I love you._

When they finally pulled apart for air minutes later, his hands were cradling her ass, her hands resting on his shoulders, both of them breathless.

"We should probably get to class," she murmured after a moment, resting her forehead against his. "Besides we're at school right now. We shouldn't be doing this."

Finn nodded in agreement as she slid off of him in response.

_Damn, he missed her already._

Her words, however, served to trigger his memory over something Santana had told him earlier that morning. He wrinkled his nose as he tried to recall her exact words. What were they again? _Oh, right._

"Uh huh," Finn answered her, a smirk starting to form on his face already as he anticipated her bound-to-be-hilariously-upset reaction. "So, you want to do dirty, _dirty _things to me later then? My place or yours?"

Whirling around to face him, her expression was _not _one he had expected. She actually seemed _pleased _that Santana had told him.

"Mine," she confirmed, placing one last kiss on his lips before walking out of the auditorium, glancing back only once to relish in the dumbfounded look currently gracing his features.

* * *

Quinn practically flew down the stairs when she heard the doorbell ring, excited to see Finn. He was early, she noted.

"Hey," he greeted her, peering behind her to make sure her mom had left for work already. "I missed you."

"We saw each other like three hours ago," she reminded him, although she smiled at the sentiment.

"I know, but still," he answered her, following her up to her room.

He liked spending drama-free time with Quinn again. Things were…_simple_. They would hang in her room, talk, make out. Everything was so perfect and Finn wished things would stay like this forever. The fact that they weren't going public with their rekindled relationship quite yet was also nice. It really took the pressure off. They certainly didn't need the extra stress right now. All they wanted was to enjoy each other's company for awhile without Rachel interrogating either of them or Santana saying 'me gusta' every time she passed them in the halls. They were living inside their own little bubble for now, where all that mattered was him and her, her and him.

_And that suited them just fine._

When he closed her bedroom door behind them, he immediately reached for her waist. She turned on her heels to face him, a giggle escaping from her lips as she looped her arms around his neck.

"Wait," she told him before he could make a move, her eyes wide, feigning innocence.

He stood there in anticipation over what she was about to say.

"Let's pray."

But then her lips touched his and although Finn had wanted to agree with her just to tease her back, his words escaped him.

_Fireworks._


	16. Original Song

**A/N:** I feel so bad for the delay, but school (as usual) has been a well, _you know_. Reviews would be lovely as always. _P.S._ I needed Glee to return like yesterday.

**Original Song**

* * *

Quinn went behind the curtain as the New Directions continued to celebrate on stage, the audience still going wild for them. The happiness radiating among her fellow glee clubbers was overwhelming. She had been happy about winning Regionals too, past tense. She could hardly muster a smile after having seen the look that Finn and Rachel had shared after the announcement. Her mother had always told her that she had a tendency to over think things, over analyze them. Quinn would argue that she merely noticed the things that no one else did, although to be fair, Finn and Rachel were about as subtle as a gun.

Suddenly, she heard a voice from behind her, one she had not expected, not in the very least.

"Hey," Sam spoke softly, a look of pity in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

He cocked his head back over to where Finn and Rachel were still standing. He knew Finn and Quinn had started dating a couple weeks ago. One had to be _super _clueless not to have drawn such a conclusion.

"You can wipe that look of pity off of your face," the blonde spat, her tone venomous, masking her hurt. "Finn has no more feelings for Rachel. He loves _me_. He chose _me_."

"Do you really believe that?" Sam questioned, the flicker of doubt in her eyes betraying her.

She spun around without answering him, wanting to be alone. Surprisingly, he reached out to grab her wrist, attempting to keep her from leaving. Quinn remained still at his touch, but kept her back to him, a moisture already gathering in her eyes. Ugh! Why was she being so emotional lately?

"You're hurt," he stated, taking a step toward her. "That doesn't make you weak, Quinn. It makes you _human_."

Something inside her snapped upon hearing his words. She held back her tears with a sniffle and put on a brave face before finally whirling around to confront him.

"Why do you even care? I was _awful _to you," she reminded him, wriggling out of his grasp and heading for the exit.

He followed her still, determined, stepping in front of her to block her path.

"Stop," he demanded and the adamant tone of his voice compelled her to do so. "Look Quinn, you cheated on me, lied to me, whatever, but that does _not _make you a horrible person. Yeah, I'm still hurt by what you did. I'm not going to stand here and lie to you, but I also remember how great of a girlfriend you were too. Remember that time when you took care of me after I injured myself playing football? Or all those times you so patiently helped me with my Spanish, even though we both know how hopeless I am at that language? Plus, you never made fun of my big mouth, not once, which I kind of _really _appreciate."

He was giving her one of his goofy smiles and she had to reciprocate, giving him a big smile of her own.

"Yeah, I heard Santana's original song," she confessed, watching Sam cringe at the reminder. "She's actually really turned on by your lips, you know. She told me so when she was drunk at Rachel's party."

"Not as turned on as she is by Brittany I'm sure," he mumbled miserably, glancing over at his supposed girlfriend, who was currently staring at the blonde in question.

Quinn followed his gaze. She felt sorry for him. A part of her blamed herself.

When her eyes met his again, she said, "Sam, I'm really sorry that I hurt you. You were good to me and you didn't deserve that. I was…I was being selfish and I'm sorry. I really am."

He chuckled at her apology. 'No big deal' his demeanor seemed to proclaim.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to disagree with you, but hey! We can still be friends," he assured her, reaching forward to wipe a lingering tear from her cheek. "Come on, you want a ride home?"

Quinn hesitated for a moment, looking back toward the stage where Finn and Rachel were standing. Of course, the petite brunette was still clinging onto her man, him none the wiser. In an instant, her sadness dissipated, anger starting to bubble up within her instead. _Ugh_, did Rachel know nothing about boundaries? _She _had kept her distance when Rachel had been dating Finn. Why did Rachel always have to go after Finn while _she _was dating him?

"You trying to kill her telepathically or something?" Sam joked, although there was genuine concern in his eyes.

"Something like that," Quinn admitted before remembering his previous offer. "Are you sure you want to drive me home? You're going to miss the after party or whatever."

"I don't mind," he declared, rocking back and forth slightly on his heels, his hands in his pockets. "Besides, I'm _pretty _sure Santana won't even notice I'm gone."

"Yeah, well I bet Finn won't notice _I'm_ gone either," Quinn mumbled, looking down at her feet.

"Care to make a wager, Fabray?" he echoed, grinning at her.

She turned to look at Finn, who was still as clueless about her absence as ever, and her heart sunk a little.

"You're on," she agreed, following Sam out the door. "Twenty says that Santana will notice you're missing first."

"Hah! Challenge accepted," Sam affirmed as he opened the passenger door for her to slide in.

Little did they know that Lauren had seen them leave together. Luckily for them, she was hardly one to gossip.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Sam and Quinn were sitting on her couch, cross-legged, facing one another, a tub of vanilla almond ice cream going between them.

"So, why do you want to be Prom Queen so bad anyway?" Sam changed the subject after Quinn had finished ranting to him about Rachel. "Just for the popularity or what?"

His question caused her to pause. Putting the spoonful of ice cream down, she handed the carton back to him without eating any more of the sweet treat.

"Bad question?" the blonde wondered, sensing that he had upset her.

"No, long explanation," she corrected him, biting her lip as she mulled over the idea of telling him in her head.

"You can tell me, you know," he assured her when he caught on to her dilemma. "I'm good at keeping secrets. I think you can attest to that."

"Yeah, I know," Quinn told him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear before she confirmed, "No judgment?"

"Never," he promised her, shifting a little closer to let her know he was listening.

Despite the fact that she had broken his heart, he still cared about her a lot.

"Where do you see yourself, Sam?" she started, eyeing him warily. "Like after high school, where do you see yourself?"

Sam shrugged, not having given his future much thought. He preferred living in the moment.

"Not sure. Something to do with music maybe or sports. A little modeling? I don't really know yet to be honest. Why do you ask?"

She shook her head as if to say 'no reason', but elaborated, "I used to know what I wanted out of life. I used to be so _sure_."

She chuckled a little as she confessed to him, "I even have this checklist of my goals, you know. I cross one out every time I achieve one of them."

"Sounds very Rachel-esque," he teased her, eliciting a glare from the blonde. "Plus, must be annoying crossing out Head Cheerio and then adding it back to the list all the time."

"_Hilarious_, Evans. You're oh so funny, _really_," she drawled, even though he was right.

"So I've been told," he joked back, winking at her. "Now, what about this list of yours?"

She set the empty carton on the coffee table before motioning for him to follow her up to her room. It was better if she showed him. When she placed the list into his hands, he was…well, surprised. It was a lot shorter than he had expected.

"If someone had asked me where I saw myself in the future before Puck knocked me up last year, my answer would have practically been rehearsed."

She put on a wide smile and turned to face the mirror, delivering her lines as though she were playing a part.

"In the future?" she beamed at her reflection. "I'm going to be a lawyer of course! Finn's going to be…well, whatever he wants to be. He changes his mind _all _the time, but we're both going to be really happy and then one day, _someday_, we're going to get…"

"…married," Sam finished knowingly from behind her, breaking her out of her trance, her smile disappearing. "What's changed?"

Quinn bit her lip when she heard him finish her sentence, silently chiding herself for bringing up her dream of marrying Finn in his presence. It was a little insensitive in light of recent events, but he didn't seem to mind and so, she continued.

"Everything," Quinn murmured, expressing her thoughts out loud for the first time. "Those dreams that once seemed so attainable to me are slipping away now."

"And somehow you've convinced yourself that the greatest thing you'll ever achieve in this life is being Prom Queen?" he interrupted her, his eyes stopping at that particular goal on the list.

He had to laugh when she confirmed his assumption.

"Quinn, that's ridiculous!" Sam exclaimed, shaking his head at her in disbelief. "If _anyone's _going to make it out of here besides Rachel, it's probably going to be you."

"Do you really think so?" she whispered uncertainly, the expression on her face pleading with him to be honest with her.

He set the list down on the bed and approached her, pulling her into a friendly hug, Quinn allowing herself to fall into his embrace.

"I do," he promised her, smiling at her in encouragement. "You're better than Lima, Fabray, and don't let _anyone_, especially yourself, tell you otherwise. I expect a mention in your valedictorian speech when you graduate from Harvard Law for this pep talk by the way."

"Deal," she assured him as he looked behind her, a perturbed look on his face.

"So, _how _many girls did you have to kill for those crowns?"

* * *

Just as Finn lifted a finger to ring her doorbell, the door swung open, Quinn and Sam standing before him.

"_What the hell?_ So you two _are _missing together," he stated, looking none too pleased by the other boy's presence.

Rachel had been right.

"Look, man…" Sam started, but Quinn him cut him off.

"We don't have to explain ourselves to him, Sam," she announced, giving Finn her "scary" look. "We're friends - like Rachel and him are."

Sam nodded and said a quick goodnight before running past an angry Finn to get to his car, not wanting to get involved in a quarrel. The two watched wordlessly as the blonde left. Finn was the first to speak.

"What's going on Quinn?" he wondered, following her into the house and closing the door behind them (more like _slamming _the door behind them actually).

"What's going _on_? Are you _seriously _asking me that? _I_ should be the one asking _you _that question," she spat, poking at his chest. "I'm not stupid, Finn. I saw the way you were looking at Rachel at Regionals. You had that dopey look on your face when she was singing that _stupid _'Get It Right' song, which _I_ inspired her to write by the way and then when we won? That look of adoration the two of you shared? What were you trying to do? _Get her pregnant?_"

"Actually, that's not possible," Finn answered her seriously, not having picked up her sarcastic tone. "I asked Ms. Holliday."

She remained silent, crossing her arms over her chest and refusing to look at him. He reached out for her only to stop when he noticed the empty ice cream carton on the side table. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't insanely jealous right now.

"Wow, we even brought out the vanilla almond ice cream, did we? Are you and Sam _bffs _now or something?"

"What's it to you?" Quinn retorted as she stomped up to her room.

"_What's it to me?_ Christ, Q! You are so _frustrating _sometimes!" he shouted, going after her. "You're my _girlfriend_. Of course I'm not going to be thrilled about you hanging out with your ex."

Quinn raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to see his own hypocrisy.

"Just like you don't really like it when I hang out with Rachel," he breathed finally, taking her hand and leading her to the edge of the bed to sit.

His demeanor was apologetic.

"Do you love her?" Quinn asked him simply. "And don't say you love me because that doesn't answer my question, Hudson."

"I want to be with you," he promised her, but added honestly after a moment, "Sometimes I get confused though. There are times when I stray - only emotionally though. _I swear!_"

She frowned at his answer, but was pleasantly surprised that he had been honest with her. She supposed she had had her moments of confusion too, with Puck, with Sam. _Heck!_ With Sam just _now_. She had wondered for a split second during the hug whether she still had some lingering feelings for him.

"Ok," she finally murmured, looking up at him again.

"Ok?" he repeated, thrown off by her lack of anger.

She nodded, giving him a small smile.

"I get confused too sometimes," she admitted. "Trying to return to being just friends with an ex? Not easy. I mean, look at _us_. Just promise me you won't leave me for her again."

"As long as you promise me you won't go back to Sam," he echoed, grabbing her waist and pulling her onto his lap, Quinn wrapping her arms around his neck instinctively.

"Deal," she agreed as his mouth fell into an 'o' , scanning the crown collection behind her.

"Is that…?" he trailed off, heading over to the cabinet and pulling out the obvious oddball of the bunch.

He held the pink, plastic crown up for her to see, a huge grin on his face.

"My princess crown from the second grade that your clumsy ass sat on and snapped in half?" she finished for him. "My dad was always handy with the Krazy Glue."

"At least _you're _not the one who had to sit on it," he joked, placing the crown on her head. "Still looks good on you, Fabray."

Quinn smiled at the sentiment, Finn stepping away for a moment to put on some music before returning to ask her to dance.

"A dance, Princess Quinn?" he requested, hold out his hand to her.

"Of course, Sir Finncelot," she answered, giggling as he pulled her close to him, the two swaying in time to the music.

_Maybe she and Finn were destined for something greater than Lima after all_, Quinn mused to herself, resting her head against him contently.

If you see the magic in a fairy tale, you can face the future. - _Danielle Steel_


	17. A Night Of Neglect

**A/N:** Short little chapter with a dose of Puckleberry. Forgive me. I'm a little rusty, since I haven't written something in awhile. Reviews would be lovely of course, good or bad. Keep calm and Fuinnja on!

**A Night Of Neglect**

* * *

"What the hell was that for?" Finn shouted, gripping his arm in pain.

He broke his gaze away from a departing Rachel in order to confront his girlfriend.

Said girlfriend continued to glare at him as she answered, "You were _totally _looking at her!"

Finn froze for a split second before turning around and heading down the hall, purposely avoiding her accusation. A sigh escaped from his parted lips as he mouthed a small prayer, hoping that Quinn wouldn't notice his "gassy infant look".

"Quinn, you're just making something out of nothing," he assured her as she followed him all the way to his locker, always one step behind. "Besides, my eyes have to fall _somewhere_, you know. She just happened to be in my line of vision at that very moment. You know, when you were looking at me looking at her."

"Do _not _try to worm your way out of this one, Hudson," she warned him in response, clearly not amused by his antics.

She pressed her lips into a thin line to show her displeasure over the situation and how he was attempting to escape from it.

"You were giving her _that _look, not just _a _look."

She looked down at her shoes after she called him out, her insecurities shining through. Quinn Fabray always _acted _strong, but that was all it was - an act. He frowned slightly when he heard her change in tone, his eyes connecting with her right hand, which was currently playing nervously with the fringes of her dress.

"You are being completely silly right now. I hope you know that," he told her, tilting her chin up so she would meet his eyes again. "_You _are my girlfriend. I only have eyes for you. In fact, I was daydreaming about you this morning in math class, Fabray."

"Sure you were," she responded, although she brightened up upon hearing his admission.

She walked past him and continued down the hall, her grin growing wider and wider as she went. Quickly, he followed her, slamming his locker door shut with a _bam_.

"I swear," he promised her, giving her a goofy smile. "It was _quite _embarrassing actually because I shouted 'Quinn!' when Mr. Daniels came over to snap me out of my daydream."

His confession made her giggle.

"Well, I guess you'll have to be more careful next time, Mr. Hudson," she teased him, her voice sultry, Rachel Berry long forgotten.

He grabbed her hand, pulling her closer toward him.

Leaning in, Finn whispered into her ear, "I guess so, Miss Fabray."

He paused for a moment (as he thought a pause would be appropriate) before he added in wonder, "Uh, do you wanna make out now? My lips haven't touched yours for almost like three hours. Three long _torturous _hours."

She rolled her eyes at him in response, but pulled him into a nearby empty classroom.

"You are _such _a moron," she informed him, pushing him up against the blackboard. "Like you even had to ask."

* * *

Quinn and Rachel ran past Puck with a new set of humidifiers. Apparently, the original ones Rachel had brought for Mercedes were now "harshing her mellow". What the hell did that even mean, really?

"Hey!" he shouted after them uncertainly, hands shoved deep into his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels a little. "Hold up a sec!"

Rachel signaled for Quinn to keep going, while she paused to address Puck.

"I am under a _lot _of stress, Noah," she informed him, a tired look in her eyes. "This better be important. What do you want?"

_She looks so cute in her sweater_, he mused, a small smile appearing across his face before he realized what he was doing and quickly got rid of it.

"Just want to help you out, Berry," he answered her, rolling his eyes. "Who peed in your cereal this morning?"

"_That _would be Mercedes," she informed him, hardly amused by his tone of voice. "Oh, and who else? Oh right. Lauren, your girlfriend? She's been making insane demands on Mercedes' behalf _all freaking day_!"

"Chill Rach," he told her, not allowing himself to believe that she had sounded _just _a tiny bit jealous just now. "I can go get that puppy for Mercedes for you. She wanted a puppy, right? Why don't you go and relax a bit before the show starts? You deserve a break."

"That…would actually be wonderful," she breathed, offering him a grateful smile before running off again. "Thank you, Noah."

He watched her leave before shaking his head, a low chuckle escaping from the hollows of his throat. He was about to go out and get a freaking puppy!

"Only for Rachel Berry," he muttered to himself. "Only Rachel Berry."

* * *

"_You what?_" Quinn shouted, the room starting to spin uncontrollably around her.

She was already feeling light headed from all the running around she had to do today. She did _not _need this right now.

"What do you _mean _you can't find the puppy? Mercedes and Lauren could be back at any moment! _How could you have let this happen, Finn?_" she asked him, although she was hardly interested in his explanation.

The puppy had run away on _his _watch. That was all Quinn cared about right now.

"Stop yelling at me, Quinn," Finn seethed, looking around the room, frantic. "It seemed like a fun idea at the time, alright?"

"_A fun idea?_" she scoffed as she checked under the sofa, no calmer than she was before. "Seriously? You thought playing hide and seek with the dog would be a "fun idea"? You are _completely _ridiculous, do you know that?"

Finn gritted his teeth, his head starting to hurt from all of her shouting (although he had to admit he was a little turned on by angry!Quinn right now).

"We got bored waiting for you and Rachel to come back with the humidifiers," he explained to her, his tone no more pleasant than hers. "I asked the puppy if she wanted to play hide and seek and she barked. Now, I know I don't speak dog, but I could tell she wanted to play, Quinn."

Quinn got up from where she was crouched on the floor to address him, in _complete _disbelief over how stupid he could be sometimes.

"Really? She _barked_?" she snapped at him, hands on her hips, her face a breath away from his.

"Not quite like how you're barking at me now, but yeah," he answered her in spite.

_What?_ He was just as pissed off as she was.

She gasped when she heard his remark, completely offended.

"_Finn Hudson!_ Are you calling m-"

"No," he quickly retracted his statement for fear of being castrated. "I just want you to stop attacking me! I didn't _know _she was going to be such a good hider, alright? Can we just go and find her?"

"Fine," she muttered under her breath, heading out the door (which Finn had stupidly left open by the way). "_Absolutely un-freaking-believable._"

Apparently, he had heard her because she felt herself being yanked back and spun around. Before she could react, a pair of familiar lips crashed onto her own. Her carnal instincts took over for a moment and she kissed him back just as urgently. Eventually, however, she shoved him away, bringing her fingers up to touch her slightly swollen lips.

"What the _hell _was that?" she questioned, _absolutely un-freaking-believably _turned on right now.

"You were pissing me off," he told her, shrugging his shoulders a little. "I was just trying to release some of that anger, show you how I was feeling."

"Oh ok," she answered, pulling him forward abruptly again and locking their lips together.

She'd show him just how frustrated _he _was making _her_. He kept his eyes open for a moment, startled by her reaction, but soon, her heated kisses overwhelmed his mind. He closed his eyes and savored her touch, kissing her back with equal fervor, Mercedes' puppy momentarily forgotten. She couldn't have gone far anyway, right?

They fell back onto the sofa, his hand finding her ass and her, smirking against his lips, relishing in how hot she was making him right now.

"We should fight more often," he murmured into her hair as she nipped at his neck.

"Hmmm," she sounded in agreement, nodding against him. "We should definit-"

_Ruff! Ruff!_

The sound of a barking dog brought Quinn back to reality and she sat up hastily (much to Finn's dismay), fixing her hair and smoothing down her tousled dress. Boy was _she _grateful that the puppy had interrupted their make out session and not Mercedes and Lauren.

Reading Quinn's mind, Finn laughed. He scooped the puppy up into his arms, who licked his face with affection, recognizing him immediately.

"I guess she got tired of waiting for you to find her," Quinn said, not failing to notice how adorable Finn was right now.

He nodded in agreement before holding the puppy up and explaining himself to her.

"Yeah sorry," he apologized to the dog, turning her around to face Quinn. "This is my girlfriend, Quinn. She gets jealous easily, has a bit of a short temper, and has absolutely _no _control over her hormones. She mauled me like a wild animal not five minutes ago."

Quinn gave him a fake laugh, motioning for him to hand the puppy over.

"And this sweetie," she stated, holding her up to Finn's face. "This is my boyfriend, Finn. I get jealous easily because I know he's such a catch and I don't want to lose him, not again. I only lash out at him when he does _really _stupid things and believe me, that's often. Also, _he _was the one who attacked _me _first. I swear!"

_Ruff!_

"You see?" Quinn told him, a victorious smile on her lips. "She's totally on my side. Aren't you sweetie?"

_Ruff!_

"Oh, so _you _speak dog now?" Finn teased her, a smug smirk on his lips, to which Quinn slapped him on the arm in response as she had earlier that day.

"_What the hell was that for?_"


	18. Born This Way

**A/N:** I _have _to be dreaming because this story now has 170 reviews. Wow. Thank you _so_ much. I feel a really embarrassing happy dance coming on…

**Born This Way**

* * *

Finn swung his backpack over his shoulder and headed down the hall. He was supposed to meet up with Puck for some bro time. He was interrupted, however, when someone flew past him, running hard into his left shoulder. He whirled around, prepared to tell that someone to watch where the hell they were going, but realizing who the perpetrator had been stopped him from doing so.

"Quinn?" he murmured under his breath in shock as he watched his girlfriend speed toward the end of the hall and enter the girls' bathroom.

Seeing his girlfriend so upset made him forget about his plans with Puck almost instantly. He followed after her, swinging open the washroom door without so much as a second thought. Several girls turned to stare at him, but all he could process at the moment was the sound of the girl he loved crying in one of the bathroom stalls. When he finally took notice of the other girls who were there, he noticed that they were whispering about her, some of them even sniggering at her misfortune, whatever that misfortune was.

"All of you," Finn demanded, his protective side coming out to play. "Out. _Now._"

"Actually, this is the girls' bathroom, so if anyone should be getting out, it's _you_," one of the older girls shot back at him, her friends standing behind her in silent support.

Finn recognized her from his math class. Catherine, Cathy, Kathleen, or whatever.

"You know," he started in no mood to deal with anything or anyone besides Quinn right now. "It's funny because I don't remember asking. Seriously, _get out_."

The girl pursed her lips in obvious displeasure at his command, but ultimately, did as she was told, her friends following her lead of course.

"Smart move," he commented as he held the door open for them to exit.

After closing the barrier behind the group of nosy girls, he dragged a nearby garbage can under the door handle to prevent anyone else from coming in. He knew Quinn needed her privacy right now.

"Quinn?" he called out for her, knocking gently on the stall door. "You can come out now."

There was no response. All he heard was her sniffling on the other side of the door and to say his heart was breaking? Well, even _that _was an understatement.

"What happened?" he continued, attempting to get her to talk to him.

He couldn't possibly make her feel better without knowing what the hell was going on.

"Come on Quinn," he continued to urge her when she had failed to respond for a second time. "Talk to me, _please_."

"Just go away Finn!" she shouted, outright sobbing now. "Just leave me alone!"

He was taken aback by her sudden outburst, but now he knew for certain that he needed to stay here and be there for her. Whatever had happened had obviously really shaken her up. He sighed, trying to find the right words to say to her right now.

"I'm not going anywhere," he swore to her, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Don't shut me out, Quinn. Whatever's going on, whatever happened, we'll get through it together. _Please _Q, open the door."

After he finished speaking, her sobbing stopped momentarily much to Finn's temporary delight.

"Look Finn," she whispered, sounding tired from all of her crying. "I appreciate you wanting to be here for me, but I would just _really _like to be alone right now. Please."

"Quinn," he tried again.

"_Please._"

Reluctantly, Finn let her have her way.

"Fine," he sighed, not wanting to make her even more upset. "Just come and talk to me when you're ready, ok? Promise me, Fabray."

She sniffled slightly before answering him, "Yeah, ok. I promise."

Somewhat satisfied, Finn removed the garbage can from under the door handle and took his leave. When he swung open the barrier, the group of gossiping girls from before were still milling around trying to get a gist of his conversation with Quinn from inside the bathroom.

"Don't you girls have something better to do?" he spat at them, angered by their persistent presence. "Like braid each other's hair? Seriously, _get out of here_. This bathroom is out of order."

Quickly, they scattered. Finn crossed his arms over his chest, determined to stay right outside the bathroom door until Quinn was ready to come out. _No one _was getting past him, not if he had anything to say about it. Five minutes passed and his mind started to wonder again. _What had made the blonde so upset?_ Thankfully, Mike approached him at that very moment. _Finally! _Someone who would be able to answer his question.

"Oh hey, Finn," Mike greeted him, a stack of papers in his hand. "There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you…and Quinn."

He looked past the taller boy and realized where he was standing.

"Is Quinn in there?" Mike questioned, a look of obvious concern in his eyes. "How's she doing?"

"Not so good. Now, will you _please _fill me in on what the hell happened?" Finn pleaded with him, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Because Quinn's in there bawling her eyes out and she _refuses _to tell me anything. I'm serious, man. Whose face do I have to do some damage to?"

His friend paused, looking down warily at the posters he held in his hand.

"You mean, you haven't seen these yet?" Mike clarified, stumbling slightly over his words.

He handed one of the posters he was holding over to the clueless boy.

"A few of us have been going around and taking them down," he assured Finn, who was glancing down at the poster in his hands now looking more confused than ever. "But Lauren pretty much put them up everywhere, so the entire student body has basically seen these already."

"Lucy Caboosey," Finn read the name off the page.

He was about to ask his friend who this Lucy was, but another good look at the picture and he realized _exactly _who he was staring at.

"_How?_" Finn stuttered, not sure what he wanted to ask him really.

"Yeah, we're all kind of shocked too," Mike agreed, patting him on the back in a motion of comfort. "Turns out Quinn…or I guess Lucy…lost some weight, dealt with her acne problem, and got a nose job."

Finn processed his words as he continued to stare at the unfamiliar image of his girlfriend. He wanted so desperately to grill Mike for details, but right now, all that mattered to him was that Quinn stop crying.

"So, these are being taken down? _All of them?_" Finn confirmed, glancing at his friend.

Mike nodded.

"Definitely," he answered with a curt nod. "We've been scouring the halls for these since they first appeared, but like I said, Lauren really covered all of her bases. These posters are literally _everywhere_."

"Lauren," Finn echoed, only now remembering that little detail. "Why did she do this to Quinn anyway? All so she can win prom queen? I have to say I'm both surprised and impressed. How did she even get this picture?"

The other boy shrugged.

"I hear she broke into Figgin's office," he informed him, lowering his voice to add, "Apparently, Puck helped her."

Upon hearing his best friend's name included in the mix, his hands balled into tight fists at his side, the poster that was still in his hand crumpled beyond recognition.

"Excuse me," he apologized to Mike, eyes livid as he headed down the hall again. "I have some business I need to take care off."

Before the other boy could stop him, Finn was already charging toward his target.

* * *

"Shit Hudson, where the hell were you?" Puck started when he saw his best friend approaching him. "Thought you got fucking lost or some-"

He felt the wind rush out of him as Finn shoved him back into the row of lockers behind him, _hard_. Enraged (naturally), Puck returned the gesture.

"_What the fuck man!_" he shouted, looking every bit as angry as Finn did.

"How could you do that to her?" Finn yelled back, restraining himself from punching him in the face. "You _knew _how this would affect her! All this to get your girlfriend that fucking crown?"

"I didn't know, alright?" Puck told him with a sigh, not wanting to fight with him. "Lauren asked me to help her break in. She's my girl, so I said yes!"

Finn scoffed, rolling his eyes, "So, you're telling me you had _no _idea she was trying to dig up dirt on Quinn? I mean, I know _I'm_ pretty stupid sometimes, but…"

"Yeah, I knew," Puck admitted, interrupting him, not looking proud of the role he had played in all of this. "I knew Lauren had found something to use against her, but I didn't know _this _was that something. I thought it'd be some small, insignificant shit like she wet the bed until she was ten!"

"You don't find that kind of stuff in school records bro," Finn reminded him, although he wasn't quite as pissed off at him anymore. "And you still should have had enough sense to stop Lauren. _Hell!_ You should have had enough sense not to help her at all."

Puck rolled his eyes at his hypocrisy.

"You're telling me that if Quinn had asked you to do the same, you would have refused to help her?" he questioned, daring Finn to lie to his face.

"Well, I would have tried to talk her out of it at least," Finn retorted, trying to get his thoughts sorted out. "Look, I can't deal with this right now. I've got to talk to Quinn."

"Yeah, sure," Puck echoed, slapping him on the back. "And I _am _sorry. For what it's worth, Lauren and I have started to take down those damn posters, but kids have been making personal copies and shit."

"Doesn't matter anymore," Finn pointed out, walking back toward the girls' bathroom only to pause in his steps a few seconds later.

He turned around to face Puck again.

"Hang on, does Lauren still have the original photo?" he wondered, lips pursed in thought.

"Uh yeah, I think so," Puck answered, eyebrow raised. "Why do you ask?"

"Because," Finn enlightened him without going into any detail. "I have a point to make and that picture's going to help me do it. Just go and get it for me, ok man?"

"You got it," he echoed, strolling off to find Lauren, wanting to make amends.

Satisfied, Finn headed in the opposite direction again. He needed Quinn to know that he would love her no matter what.

"Besides," he thought, grinning to himself. "Lucy Caboosey was kind of a cute name. Actually, on second thought, the name was downright _adorable_."


	19. Rumours

**A/N:** I _had _to include a Sam and Quinn scene after the last episode. Plus, I now lead a Sam Evans appreciation life.

**Rumours**

* * *

Quinn knocked on the door, waiting for him to answer. She had brought some movies along to watch with the kids. She heard some squabbling on the other side of the door.

"No! Don't open the door yet, Sammy," she heard Stacy warn her brother.

There was a short silence before Quinn heard her voice again. This time, Stacy was addressing her.

"What's the password?" she questioned in a commanding tone, causing the blonde to smile.

They had come up with a password the last time she was here.

"Rainbow muffins," Quinn answered easily, the door swinging wide open moments later, Stacy having been satisfied with her response.

"Hey," Sam greeted her with a grin, shaking his head in mock disapproval at his sister.

"Hey," Quinn echoed the sentiment, giving his siblings a small wave.

"I get to choose the next password!" Stevie sounded from beside his brother as Stacy came over to give her a hug.

"Definitely," Quinn promised Stevie, setting her bags to the side and scooping Stacy up into her arms.

Sam closed the door quietly behind them.

"You actually don't have to stay," he informed her, an apologetic look in his eyes. "I was about to call you. Turns out they don't need me to work tonight. Sorry you made the trip."

Stacy pouted upon hearing her brother's words, protesting, "Can she stay anyway? _Please?_"

Sam sighed. Stacy had been looking forward to seeing Quinn all day, but he didn't really want to bother his ex-girlfriend anymore than was absolutely necessary.

"Of course I can stay," she assured her, setting her on the ground. "Now, why don't you and your brother go and pick out a movie?"

She pointed to the bag she had brought along with her tonight and both children nodded eagerly, leaving Sam and her alone for a few moments.

"Thanks," Sam mentioned, a tired look in his eyes. "She's been talking about you all day. I think she wishes you really _were _her sister."

"Well, I am pretty amazing," Quinn joked in an attempt to make him feel more at ease.

He laughed, opening his mouth to say something more when his sister interrupted him.

"We're watching Toy Story 3!" she announced excitedly, handing the movie over to her brother to start.

Sam quickly started up the movie for them and once they were all settled on the bed, he pressed the play button. Stevie was lying on his stomach at the foot of the bed and Stacy was snuggled contently between Sam and Quinn. Part way through the movie, she went up to join her brother, since he had insisted that the view was better from where he was.

Taking the opportunity, Sam whispered, "I'm really sorry about Finn."

The mention of Finn got her attention immediately. Quinn tore her eyes away from the screen for a split second.

"What are you talking about?" she clarified, wanting to make sure they were on the same page.

"Well, as long as you keep my secret, Finn's going to think you're cheating on him with me," he pointed out, feeling terrible about having dragged her down with him so to speak.

Quinn waved off his concerns, reaching for some more popcorn.

"Don't be," she assured him, eyes on the movie again. "That's hardly your fault. I have a history of cheating. He has a history of cheating, although mostly emotional and _always _with Rachel. We're bound to have these trust issues. This is good for us, sort of like a test."

Sam remained unconvinced, knowing _exactly _how irritated Quinn was about all of this. Then, he did the unthinkable.

"You know, a part of his heart will always belong to her," he murmured, his words almost buried under the louder sounds of popcorn being munched on.

A part of him wanted Quinn to face the truth, the part of him that still loved her. The other part of him wanted her not to have heard him, the part of him that simply wanted her to be happy. The hardening of her jaw told him that she had heard him, loud and clear.

"You _don't _know what you're talking about," the blonde hissed after a moment. "What Finn feels for Rachel? _Nothing _but an infatuation."

"One _hell _of an infatuation if you ask me," Sam muttered, eliciting a glare from Quinn. "What? Come on. Face it, Quinn. When he's not looking at you, he's looking at her."

She remained silent, remembering that she had pointed out the exact same thing in the nurse's office that day.

Suddenly, Stacy started to giggle, interrupting their conversation. Sam noticed Quinn force a smile, which did not go unnoticed by Stacy. She watched the older girl, a quizzical expression on her angelic face.

"What's so funny?" Sam questioned in an attempt to distract his sister.

He pulled her into his lap, waiting for an answer.

"Stevie said that you and Quinn are like Ken and Barbie," Stacy announced, pointing at the paused screen.

Sam glanced at Quinn nervously to gauge her reaction and much to his surprise, she laughed.

"So we've been told," she informed the younger girl, who returned her smile and crawled back to her brother's side, satisfied.

The four of them continued to watch the movie in absolute silence. In fact, the only sound that could be heard in the room was their periodic chewing (Quinn had brought along a lot of snacks).

Later that night, before Quinn had left, Sam wondered, his head hung low, "Do you ever think about how things would be like right now if Ken and Barbie had stayed together?"

"Things would be a hell of a lot simpler," she told him honestly, waiting for him to meet her gaze. "But Barbie's happy with who she's with now."

"Well then, I guess Ken's nothing but happy for her," he promised her, giving her a sad smile. "Turned out for the best anyway. Ken can't exactly afford the dream house anymore."

He was joking with her, sort of.

"Barbie's not the superficial bitch most people think she is," she joked back, resting her hand on his cheek. "Bye Sam."

She pulled him into the hug she knew he needed. Quinn knew that it wasn't so much that Sam wanted her back, but that he wanted his life when he'd been with her back, back before any of _this _had happened.

"Bye Quinn," he whispered in response, holding her tight before finally putting some space between them.

As she walked away, Sam going back into the room, she distinctly heard Stacy chanting at the top of her lungs, "Ken and Barbie sitting in a tree…"

* * *

"Quinn, get in the car," Finn pleaded with her, the vehicle moving alongside her. "Please."

"No," she reiterated, holding onto the strap of her purse a little tighter.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," he apologized for the millionth time. "I should have and I'm sorry. Will you _please _just get in the car?"

"It's not me you should be apologizing to," Quinn pointed out to him, pausing in her steps.

"I know and I plan to go over there and apologize to him soon," Finn informed her, hoping that would appease his girlfriend.

He felt compelled to add, "_Without _Rachel."

She pursed her lips for a moment in consideration, arms crossed over her chest.

"Come on," Finn urged her, reaching over the passenger seat to open the door for her. "Where are you going? I'll give you a ride."

She climbed in, albeit reluctantly.

"Fine, but we have to go pick up Rachel first," she told him, staring out the window.

"I'm sorry," Finn stuttered, looking at her with wide eyes. "I thought you said Rachel as in Rachel _Berry_."

"I did," Quinn confirmed, rolling her eyes at his juvenile reaction. "Now, step on it, Hudson. We're losing daylight here."

Finn decided it was best not to question her, so he did as he was told, texting Rachel to see where she was.

When Rachel slipped into the backseat about ten minutes later, she was even more confused than Finn had been earlier.

"What am I doing here, Quinn?" Rachel wondered, immediately on her guard as she glanced nervously between her and Finn. "I don't understand."

"_We're_ going to go and buy back Sam's guitar," the blonde explained to her, avoiding eye contact with the brunette. "Then _you and Finn _are going to go and apologize to him."

"You're not going to go with us?" Finn and Rachel asked simultaneously, the former shocked, the later slightly happy.

Quinn whirled her head around to confront her, having detected the hint of joy in her voice.

"Why should I?" she snapped, still upset that the two of them had pushed Sam to fess up like that in the choir room. "I've got _nothing _to apologize for."

She stopped herself from calling Rachel a mean name. When Finn had dropped her off at her house later, however, Quinn made sure the brunette understood who Finn belonged to.

She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him hard, leaving him absolutely breathless.

"Come by afterward?" she asked him, to which Finn nodded numbly at her in agreement.

Quinn smiled in satisfaction, both at his answer and at a fuming Rachel sitting in the back seat.

"Bye Rachel," she finished sweetly before stepping out of the car and waving them off.

As the car disappeared off into the distance, Quinn smirked, thinking to herself, "Barbie may not be the superficial bitch everyone thinks she is, but she can certainly be one when provoked. As for Rachel Berry? Well, she was simply that _other _doll who was testing her limits."


	20. Prom Queen

**A/N:** Quinn should have slapped Finn. I sure as hell would have.

**Prom Queen**

* * *

Quinn waved goodbye to Puck, who had been kind enough to offer her a ride home. The two of them had hardly spoken to one another since Beth had been born, but Quinn knew that they would always care for each other. They had been friends for too long not to.

Walking up the path toward her house, she really took a moment to appreciate how wonderfully the night had turned out. Despite all of the drama that had occurred tonight, she had had a lot of fun at prom.

Being prom queen was overrated anyway, she mused to herself as she strolled into the house. She took off her heels, a sigh a relief escaping from her lips. She had done a hell of a lot of dancing tonight.

"Mom?" she called out for her, noticing that the kitchen light was still on.

Her mother glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall before resting her eyes on her daughter.

"Right on time," she noted in approval, smiling at her.

"When have I ever come home past curfew?" Quinn challenged her, to which she received a raised eyebrow in response.

"Never mind," she mumbled, letting out a yawn.

"So, I heard prom was a bit of a let down," Judy commented, eyeing her daughter over the rim of her drink.

Quinn frowned at her remark, taking the seat next to her. How did she even find out?

"Yeah, Kurt won prom queen," she confirmed for her, knowing that a lecture was to come about how disappointed she was in her. "I'm sorry. I tried my best."

"Oh honey, I know you did," her mom answered, much to her surprise.

Judy set down her glass and rested a hand over hers.

Pulling her into a hug, she added, her voice a mere whisper, "You may not have won prom queen, but you look every bit like a princess, Quinnie."

Her daughter hugged her back tightly, having needed to hear her say those words more than she would ever be willing to admit. All she had ever wanted was for her parents to approve of her, to be _proud _of her.

"Thank you," she murmured in response before pulling away from her and getting up from her seat. "I'm really tired. Do you think we could continue this conversation tomorrow?"

She glanced at her mother apologetically.

"Of course," Judy agreed, smiling at her. "You go up and get some rest, Quinnie. I'll be up soon."

The blonde nodded in acknowledgement, heading purposefully up toward her room. Her mother, however, stopped her at the edge of the stairs, grabbing onto her elbow.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she exclaimed, although she attempted to keep her voice low. "Finn's up in your room waiting for you. He told me what happened at prom. I think he wants to apologize."

Quinn froze upon hearing his name. Suddenly, her night was starting to suck again.

"He can _want _anything," she told her mom, arms crossed in defiance, her nose in the air. "Whether I accept his apology or not is another matter."

She noticed her mother opening her mouth to comment, so before she could get a word out, Quinn clarified, "_Which I won't be._"

"Good," her mom praised her, taking her firmly by the hand. "I wouldn't want you to either. You know how much I love the boy, but _no one _treats my daughter like this and gets away with it. I heard him call you the most beautiful girl he had ever seen earlier and then he has the audacity to start a fight at prom over another girl? What was her name again, dear?"

Quinn had to smile, knowing that her mother had her back.

"Rachel," she echoed, squeezing her hand lightly to let her know she appreciated her support.

"Right, _Rachel_," her mother repeated before shooing her upstairs. "Now you get up there and tell Finn Hudson where he can stick that apology of his. If there's anything I learned from asking your father to leave, you don't need a man to make you feel like you're worth something."

_I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale,  
__I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet,  
__Lead her up the stairwell_

Quinn nodded, suddenly filled with the strength she had forgotten she had. Before she swung open her bedroom door, she took a moment to compose herself. Once her cool, nonchalant demeanor was in place, she strolled into the room. He was sitting on her bed, a huge bouquet of roses beside him, an all too familiar pink, plastic crown in his hands. He stood up upon noticing her, grabbing the flowers and offering them to her.

"I'm so sorry I ruined your prom, Quinn," he apologized, still waiting for her to accept the bouquet.

Quinn held back a scoff. He was sorry for ruining her _prom_? How about for breaking her heart time and time again?

_Say you're sorry  
__That face of an angel  
__Comes out just when you need it to_

"Don't be," she told him, her voice cold and indifferent. "Because you didn't. I had a wonderful time without you."

She watched as his face fell, but he recovered quickly. Setting the roses aside, he took the crown in his hands again.

"I'm glad you did," he said, giving her a small smile. "For the record, you should have won prom queen. _You _should have been the one up there accepting that crown."

She shook her head, taking a seat in front of her vanity table.

"Setting aside the fact that the student body voted Kurt prom queen only to humiliate him for a moment," she voiced, taking a shaky breath. "I still shouldn't have won. I wouldn't have been happy if I had."

When she observed him through the mirror, she noticed the baffled expression upon his face.

"What do you mean?" he questioned, eyebrows knitted together in obvious confusion.

"Where's the joy in being queen when your king would rather be dallying with one of the handmaidens?" she asked him, a sarcastic laugh rolling off her tongue.

_Stupid girl,  
__I should have known, I should have known_

He knelt in front of her and took her hand. At first glance, he seemed sincere, but Quinn could see the sliver of guilt in his eyes.

_And there you are on your knees,  
__Begging for forgiveness, begging for me_

"That's not true," he promised her, willing for her to believe him. "I don't know what came over me. I honestly don't. I just…I love you, Quinn."

_Baby I was naive,  
__Got lost in your eyes  
__And never really had a chance_

She removed her hand from his and said, "I would have had more respect for you Finn if you had taken responsibility for your actions. Now, will you please just go home? I'm exhausted and I'd like to get some sleep."

He didn't fail to notice that she hadn't said those three words back to him. He stood up, defeat clearly written over his features as he made his leave.

"Does this mean we're over?" he whispered, his breath catching in his throat, his hand lingering on the doorknob.

_This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town,  
__I was a dreamer before you went and let me down,  
__Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around_

"Ask me in the morning."

He nodded, realizing that he had _really_ screwed up this time, that she was finally fed up with him taking advantage of her love for him.

When Quinn heard her mother close the front door of the house behind him minutes later, she closed her eyes, willing the tears not to fall.

They fell anyway.

_I had so many dreams  
__About you and me  
__Happy endings  
__Now I know_

When Judy Fabray checked up on her daughter half an hour later, she found her fast asleep, a bouquet of red roses and a pink, plastic crown in her trash can.

Neither woman had noticed the tiny card hidden among the flowers. Only when Quinn accidentally kicked over the garbage can the next morning did the little piece of paper flutter out onto the floor.

_**One rose for every time I thought about you after I was kicked out of prom. I am such an idiot for having wanted to be with anyone else but you tonight. - Finn**_

She counted a total of sixty three roses.

_Maybe_, just _maybe _she'd write a different ending to that Taylor Swift song.


	21. Funeral

**A/N:** Had a little fun with the style of this chapter. Everything happens after the breakup and before the choir room moment at the end of the episode. Feedback would be lovely.

**Funeral**

* * *

**Text #1:** Did you get home safely? - Finn

* * *

Quinn continued to run. She had no idea where she was headed, but she knew she needed to get as far away from him as possible (not that he was chasing after her). She only took note of her surroundings when she finally collapsed from absolute exhaustion. She found herself laying on a bed of grass, the sky above her tinted grey, a cool breeze brushing against her body. Whether or not she was merely perceiving such gloomy weather due to her current mood was unclear nor did she have the energy to care at the moment.

The more she thought back to the breakup, the more angry she became. She had forgiven him for the prom debacle when she should have dumped his sorry ass and yet, _he _had been the one to break up with _her _today? She almost laughed at the irony of the situation.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted her thoughts. She sat up from where she was, very much alert.

"Mercedes? What are you doing here?" she questioned, a puzzled expression upon her face.

"Thought I would come to the park to sit for awhile," Mercedes explained, giving her small smile.

She took a seat beside her on the grass.

"Are you ok?" she added in concern, turning to look at the blonde. "You look…upset."

Upon instinct, Quinn was about to open her mouth and lie, but she stopped herself when she noticed her raised eyebrow. She knew Mercedes would have none of her bullshit, so she ended up telling her the truth.

"Finn broke up with me," she revealed, looking straight ahead to keep her emotions in check.

"When?" the other girl questioned, a stunned look on her face. "You two were still very much together at the funeral."

"We were," Quinn clarified, a sarcastic laugh sounding from the hollows of her throat. "He dumped me afterward."

"You have _got _to be kidding me," Mercedes commented, unable to believe that Finn would be so insensitive. "_Right _after the funeral?"

She nodded.

"Right after I told him how proud I was of him too," she enlightened her, a bitterness evident in her voice.

She almost laughed though as she watched Mercedes widen her eyes even further in response.

"Yup," Quinn confirmed for her, actually glad to get all of this off her chest. "Apparently he feels 'tethered' to Rachel, but not me, which is funny because awhile ago he insisted that he only felt fireworks when he kissed me, _not _Rachel."

Mercedes rolled her eyes and said, "That's boys for you."

"He's just confused," Quinn whispered instantly, not really knowing why she felt the need to defend him still.

The other girl shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"You say confused, I say insensitive asshole," she informed her in an attempt to cheer her up. "Tomat-"

She cut herself off when her phone alerted her of a new text message. Glancing down at the lit up screen, she frowned.

"I'm really sorry, Quinn, but my mom needs me home," Mercedes apologized, having wanted to be there for her a little longer. "Are you going to be ok?"

The blonde smiled at her, grateful that she had been here for her for as long as she had, and nodded curtly.

"Of course," she assured her, although the grin on her face faltered. "I'm Quinn Fabray. I have a reputation to uphold you know."

Mercedes laughed, giving her a quick hug before heading on home. She had a feeling no one else knew about the breakup yet but her, but she could keep a secret.

Five minutes later, however, she texted Tina. It was _only _Tina, Mercedes reasoned to herself. Besides, she knew Tina could keep a secret.

* * *

**Text #18:** I hope we can still be friends. - Finn

* * *

"Thanks for giving me a ride, Noah," Rachel said as she fastened her seat belt.

"Of course," he answered, starting the car only when he heard the familiar click of the safety device.

As they left the parking lot, his phone alerted him of a new text message. He reached for the ringing nuisance, but Rachel stopped him with a single look. They had had this discussion before. Both hands on the wheel at all times while she was in the car.

"Can you get that for me then, princess?" Puck asked her, knowing that that would be acceptable. "It might be important."

She nodded, taking his phone in her hands. She read the message and froze, unsure of how to react.

"Problem?" he questioned, not liking the current expression gracing her pretty little face.

She remained still, which only heightened his concern. He pulled over, turned off the engine, and confronted her.

"You being silent for this long worries me, Berry," he informed her, taking the phone from her unmoving hands.

She showed no resistance, none at all.

"Fuck," he swore out loud when he read the message as well.

He gave it a day before Rachel was back in Hudson's arms. He knew Finn was his best friend and all, but Rachel deserved so much better. Quinn did too. Who broke up with a chick right after a funeral? That was just cold, even by his standards.

"They broke up," he heard her whisper from beside him, noting the small hint of happiness in her voice.

Even so, he held onto that tiny sliver of hope that Rachel wouldn't throw herself at Finn again the first chance she got.

"Is there a protocol as to when I should call him?" she questioned seconds later, much to his frustration. "Twenty four hours, maybe? You know I'm no expert when it comes to these things, Noah. Perhaps I could console him…"

"You have to be fucking kidding me," he muttered under his breath with a roll of his eyes, unable to stop himself.

"Noah! Do you _have _to use that word as often as you do?" she wondered as he put the vehicle into drive again. "Honestly! It adds absolutely nothing to the meaning of your sentences."

"You have to be kidding me shows frustration," he explained to her, clearly humouring her. "You have to be _fucking _kidding me, princess, means I am _sick _and _tired _of y-"

He shut himself up when he realized he was raising his voice at her. Luckily, they arrived at her house then. This conversation was over.

"Forget it," he mumbled, avoiding her penetrating gaze. "Yeah, twenty four hours or whatever."

_Who gave shit really?_

"No, tell me," Rachel insisted, refusing to get out of the car just yet. "What were you going to say, Noah?"

He looked at her for a moment in consideration, the words he wanted to say to her running through his head in dizzying circles.

"Rach," he started, but then changed his mind. "Just…"

She looked at him in earnest, waiting for him to finish his statement.

"Just don't sell yourself short," he finished gruffly, breaking eye contact with her and looking straight ahead again. "Finn should be the one thanking his lucky stars a girl like you is in love with him."

After a moment of prolonged silence, neither of them knowing quite what to say exactly, she simply nodded, saying a quick 'thank you' and 'bye' before getting out of the car.

She disappeared into her house soon afterward, but he sat there in her driveway for a good five minutes longer.

_Fucking Hudson._

Why did he always get the girls he wanted?

* * *

**Text #23:** Quinn, we've known each other for too long not to still be friends after our breakup. Stop ignoring my texts please? - Finn

* * *

Brittany waited by Quinn's locker, holding the list she had spent all night preparing tightly in her hands. She had heard about the breakup from Artie, who had heard it from Mike, who had heard it from Tina, who had heard it from Mercedes, who had heard it firsthand from Quinn and she felt terrible for her friend. So, she had spent the majority of her night coming up with a list of boys at McKinley who would be suitable replacements for one Finn Hudson.

"Quinn!" she greeted her excitedly when she saw the blonde approach. "Look what I spent all night putting together for you."

Quinn took the piece of paper sceptically from her hands.

"What's this?" she murmured, unfolding it and flitting her eyes quickly over the list.

"Hot single guys at this school who would all _kill _to date you," Brittany proclaimed, a proud look on her already glowing face.

Quinn returned her bright smile, appreciating the sentiment behind the gesture.

"Thanks Britt," she said, putting the list in her locker. "I'm not really ready to move on just yet, but I'm sure I'll be making use of your list in the future."

Satisfied with her response, the bubbly blonde gave her a quick hug before heading off to her next class.

When Quinn really looked at the list again that night, she noticed that Sam Evans had been listed a total of twenty eight times, while every other boy on the list had only been listed once.

She didn't bother to ask Brittany why.

She wondered though.

* * *

**Text #42:** Rach, can we talk? - Finn

* * *

Sam continued to stare at the board, their math teacher scribbling nonsense onto the hard, black surface. He was actually alright at math when he put his mind to it. Today, his mind was elsewhere. All he could think about was the fact that Quinn was single again. He had never gone so far as to hope for their breakup, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't happy about it.

Even though she had cheated on him, broken his heart, he still loved her. Yet, he had no intentions of being her rebound, which was why he had steered clear of her over the last few days despite wanting to comfort her through this difficult time.

He heard her laugh from the middle of the room then, effectively interrupting his thoughts, and he turned to observe her (_stare _at her actually). As usual, she and Santana were passing notes to one another. He hadn't heard her laugh in awhile.

Sam sighed.

_Fucking Hudson._

* * *

**Text #56:** Quinn, come on! - Finn

* * *

Puck completely zoned out after Finn had informed him of his little run in with Jesse and Rachel in the auditorium. Clearly she had given his words some thought, but _Jesse_? That guy was probably worse than Finn. He still owed him a beat down after what he had done to Rachel last year. He certainly didn't give two shits that he had apologized to her and that Rachel had accepted his apology and forgiven him.

_What the fuck had he done?_

"I guess I was too late, man," Finn realized, slamming his locker door shut. "Do you know that neither of them are returning my texts?"

"Yeah, sucks bro," Puck commented casually, his mind elsewhere, consumed by thoughts of Rachel.

_Goddamn. _What did Finn and Jesse have that he didn't?

Maybe if he was a douche to her more often (and he was only half kidding)…

_Yeah, like that would ever happen._

* * *

**Text #63:** Did you change your number, Rach? - Finn

* * *

I am _so _bored.

_You're always bored in math, Santana._

True. You over Finn yet?

_It hasn't even been a week!_

So what?

_I love him, San. You don't get over someone you love quickly._

Whatever. I'm bored.

_Yeah, you mentioned that. Here's an idea. Try to learn something and quit indulging me in conversation._

I say we run over him with my cousin's car.

_No! But why your cousin's car?_

Because I don't like her? Get rid of Finn _and _frame my cousin for it. It's a win-win.

_For you, you mean._

_Duh_, but come on, don't you want _some _sort of revenge on cabbage patch for dumping you like that?

_No._

Come on, Quinn! I've got some great ideas and not all of them entail his death.

_Fine. Maybe. Try me._

Seduce him, bring out the "massage oil", and then rub chilli oil all over his disco stick instead. His baby maker will be on fire within seconds.

_NO WAY!_

Ugh, you're no fun.

_This conversation is over Santana. I don't want revenge anyway. I'm bigger than that._

You pretend to be. There's a difference.

_Get off my case, San._

I will when you at least get yourself a rebound. You are too hot girl to be moping around because of Finn fucking Hudson.

_I am not moping!_

Liar, Liar. Sam's totally staring at you right now by the way. You should get back on that.

_I am not using Sam to get over Finn! I'm not getting a rebound, period. Seriously S. Have you no shame?_

No shame in my game, girl. You know that.

"Passing notes in my class again, Miss Lopez? Miss Fabray? Detention after school for both of you. I'll even give you the honour of reading it to me."

_Oh shit._

* * *

**Text #71:** I need a plan to win Rachel back from Jesse. Help a brother out? - Finn

_Fuck that_, Puck mused to himself before deleting his message.

* * *

Finn sighed as he lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling, his mind filled with jumbled thoughts.

Maybe he shouldn't have broken up with Quinn.

Then again, maybe he shouldn't have broken up with Rachel over the whole Puck thing in the first place.

_Why was life so confusing all the damn time?_

His phone vibrated on the side table then. A new message! From Quinn!

_Come over?_

Yeah, of course. Be there in fifteen.

_Perfect._

When he arrived at her place, he had to admit he was slightly nervous. He knew Quinn must still be holding some resentment toward him, but he was hoping that after this conversation they were about to have, they could still be friends. He rang the doorbell, once, twice.

"Hi," he greeted her awkwardly, waiting for her to invite him in. "Did you get my text messages? All of them?"

She nodded, her expression unreadable.

"I did," she confirmed verbally for him. "Actually, that's why I asked you over here. I wanted to reply to them in person."

He smiled at her answer, taking a step forward.

"Oh good because I really want us to stay fri-"

His jaw tightened at the impact of her right hand with the left side of his face, the sting spreading rapidly from one nerve to another.

_Fuck._ His lips were numb.

"I'll think about it," he heard her say before slamming the door in his face.

_Well, he guessed he deserved that._


	22. New York

**A/N:** Sorry this took longer than usual to get out. Lack of inspiration. Hopefully, the final chapter turned out alright. I left the end open, since anything can happen over the summer. Also, a huge thank you for supporting this story. It was a silly little idea that I never imagined would take flight. I may or may not do missing scenes for season 3. Still undecided at this point, but I will probably be doing a lot of one-shots over the summer, so look out for those! I am always open to suggestions, so do leave me with some. Happy reading!

**New York**

* * *

Finn closed his eyes for a moment, a soft sigh escaping from his lips. He tried to block out everything and everyone from his mind, wanting to gather his thoughts. Somehow, fate had managed to place him in between Rachel and Quinn on their flight to New York for Nationals. Everyone had been arguing about seating arrangements earlier and so, Mr. Schue had had them draw their tickets from his hand at random, no complaints allowed. Clearly, the universe hated him. Hell, he hated himself.

He turned to his right then and caught Quinn's eye. She immediately returned to flipping through her magazine, clearly intent on ignoring him. Apparently her 'I'll think about it' from the other night had really meant 'not in this lifetime'. Hopefully, she would change her mind. He turned to his left soon afterward (hopeful), but Rachel didn't seem very happy to be sitting next to him either. In fact, she went back to answering text messages on her phone without so much as a 'how do you do?'. Probably all from Jesse, he mused, mentally kicking himself for not having made his move a little sooner.

He sighed in agony. As long as he was seated between _these _two, this was going to be a _long _flight.

* * *

Santana glanced over at Finn and rolled her eyes at how he was handling his current predicament. He looked like he was about to wet himself. So, yeah, maybe it was a little awkward to be sitting in between his ex and well, his ex, but honestly, Hudson should suck it up! Be a man! Then again, maybe that would be asking too much of cabbage patch. Her train of thought was broken, however, when she felt Brittany rest her head lightly on her shoulder, having been tired of waiting for the plane to take off. She secretly loved the way her head fit perfectly into the crook of her neck.

Suddenly, an announcement sounded over the speakers. Normally, Santana couldn't give a shit, but she was bored, so she listened. The pilot was informing them of some sort of "technical difficulty" and was assuring everyone on board that they would be taking off as soon as they could. Well, no shit Sherlock! Like they could take off _before _they could?

She glanced at Brittany again then and the small smile that had all but disappeared during the announcement returned to her face. She'd wake her up when they finally took off. She knew Brittany would enjoy the view.

She sighed contently. As long as the blonde was here, this was going to be a wonderful flight.

* * *

Artie stole a glance at Brittany through the small gap between her seat and Santana's. She was probably resting her head on the Latina's shoulder right now. What he wouldn't give to have her back in his arms. He hadn't meant to call her stupid. He knew she wasn't stupid. In fact, he had come to learn that Brittany was a lot brighter than most students at McKinley gave her credit for. What was done was done though, he supposed. Still, he couldn't help but feel like everyone had someone, but him.

He could hear Kurt and Mercedes laughing on the far left. Mike was whispering something in Tina's ear that made her kiss him, a healthy glow on her cheeks. Puck took his eyes off his phone for a moment to address Lauren, who was currently on a rant about airplane food, nodding along with her in agreement. He could see Rachel texting happily away on her phone (probably with Jesse) and even Finn and Quinn who had just recently broken up were stealing glances at one another when the other wasn't looking.

He supposed he could chat with Sam. He turned to the left to look at him, but he was busy writing something on a piece of paper. Artie sat up a little straighter and tried to get a glimpse of what he was writing about, which wasn't easy with the aisle between the two of them. He caught the word 'Quinn' at the top of the page. _Oh wow._ Was he writing some sort of love letter? Artie sympathized with him.

He sighed, dejected. Well, as long as Sam was on this flight, he wouldn't be alone in his misery at least.

* * *

Rachel smiled as Noah replied to her text.

How much longer are you going to ignore him?

_I am not ignoring him. I'm just not talking to him._

Same diff, Berry.

_I just want to concentrate on winning Nationals for now, no distractions, no boys. That's all._

Is that why you kissed Jesse in the auditorium the other day?

_Why? Are you jealous, Noah?_

Hell no.

_How did you know about that anyway?_

I have my sources.

_Whatever. It just sort of happened. We're not together or anything._

Oh. That's good then.

_Yeah, he's been texting me a lot since we kissed, but there's absolutely nothing going on between us at the moment._

You don't have to explain yourself to me, you know. I'm not your boyfriend.

_You were the one who brought up the subject, Noah._

Whatever. Bathroom. BRB.

The brunette rolled her eyes, turning to her right to observe Finn for a moment. She still loved him, but the fact that they were all headed to New York right now had gotten her thinking about the future, had gotten her to _really _put things into perspective. She was going to be a star on Broadway eventually. Where would Finn fit into that picture? _Would _he even fit into that picture? What was the point of getting back together with him if it meant an inevitable breakup later on? She shook her head. Her mind was so muddled right now. Thankfully, Noah had been distracting her.

She sighed, secretly grateful for his presence on the flight. As long as _he _was here, she'd be able to keep her mind off of Finn (for now anyway).

* * *

Quinn washed her hands and opened the bathroom door only to find herself face to face with one Finn Hudson.

"Quinn, can we talk?" he wondered, a pleading look in his eyes.

"We can, but I honestly don't think there's anything _to _talk about," she answered, trying very hard not to let him get to her.

"I thought you said you were going to think about us being friends again," he murmured, looking down at his feet.

_He missed her._

Quinn scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh come on, Finn. Let's be real here. When have we ever been friends?"

"What do you mean?" he questioned, wrinkling his nose in confusion.

"I mean exactly what I said. When have we ever been friends?" she repeated, starting to get impatient with him. "From the moment we laid eyes on each other in freshman year, we were crushing. We're completely in love when we're dating and are secretly missing each other when we're not. Things certainly have changed a little since Rachel Berry came along, but explain to me at what point in our lives have we ever been 'friends'?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He racked his brain, trying to think of an instance where he hadn't had feelings for Quinn, where he had only thought of her as a friend.

"Well, uh, there was that period of time where, uh…" he stuttered, unable to come up with anything.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she noted, taking a step closer to him.

He held his breath at her closeness, unsure of what was about to happen.

"So, the next time you want us to be 'just friends', think about what you're asking of me, of _us_," she warned him, poking him in the chest.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, reaching forward instinctively to caress her cheek.

She shied away from his touch, telling herself to stay strong.

"Me too," Quinn whispered before returning to her seat and leaving him standing there with his thoughts.

When she sat down again, Sam (who was sitting behind her) leaned forward and whispered, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine," she murmured back, not even noticing the folded letter he had left on her food tray. "Thanks for asking."

Sam watched in dismay as she tucked her food tray back into place, planning to take a little nap. His letter to her inevitably floated to the floor. He tried to retrieve it from up off the floor with his foot, but to no avail.

_Shit._

* * *

Mercedes observed Sam from where he was sitting. Kurt was rambling on about Blaine and while she was super happy that her best friend had found someone who loved him for everything that he was, she couldn't listen to him anymore. She zoned out and returned her attention to Sam, who was currently leaning forward to whisper something to perfect little Miss Quinn Fabray.

Prom had been a dream for her and a part of her wished that it had been a _real _date. She sighed. It was useless though. Sam was still head over heels for Quinn. Anyone with half a brain could see that. She noticed Sam extending his leg then, trying to reach at something on the ground. She couldn't see that well from where she was sitting, but she was curious enough to get up from her seat and walk on over there.

She reached down to pick up the fallen sheet of paper. She managed to catch 'Quinn' on the first line before handing it to Sam.

"Here," she said, not surprised at all that he had written some sort of love letter to her. "I'd try giving it to her in person when she's awake or better yet, just tell her how you feel."

"It's not what you think," he whispered, not wanting to wake the blonde in front of him.

Mercedes rolled her eyes at him and made her way back to her seat without responding. Only when she sat down did she let out a tired sigh.

"It never is," she murmured, causing Kurt to ask, "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"Oh um, nothing," Mercedes insisted, giving her best friend a wide smile. "What were you saying about Blaine?"

And then Kurt was on a roll once more, leaving Mercedes to continue staring at the blonde three seats away from her.

High school sucked and this flight would most certainly suck as well. It already did.

* * *

The plane shook once more. Finn shrieked and grabbed onto Quinn's hand even tighter.

"Shit Finn!" Puck shouted at his best friend. "Stop acting like a girl. Hell, none of the _girls _are even freaking out right now."

"It's just turbulence," Rachel spoke up in agreement, turning around in her seat to share a look with Puck.

Finn didn't respond, his eyes shut tight, clinging onto Quinn with all of his might.

"It might just be turbulence to you two, but it's more than that to him, ok?" Quinn yelled back at them. "We're all irrationally afraid of different things, so cut him some slack."

"I'd watch how you talk to my man," Lauren spoke up from behind her, causing Quinn to roll her eyes.

"Hey, your man can defend himself," Rachel retorted, but clamped her mouth shut immediately afterward, not knowing where that had come from.

"Please," the blonde responded. "He lost his balls the moment he started dating _you_. Oh wait, no, pretty sure Berry's had them this whole time. You're blind Lauren if you can't see the way he looks at her."

"You don't know what the _fuck _your talking about, Fabray," Puck seethed from where he sat. "So, how about you concentrate on making sure Finny boy there doesn't piss in his pants with fright?"

"Everybody _calm down_," Will stressed, trying to enforce some authority from beside Artie.

Truthfully though, this bout of turbulence was making him nauseous and hearing them lash out at each other was actually taking his mind off of it (as bad as that was).

"Yeah, chill," Sam agreed. "You're all giving me a headache."

"Straight up," Artie echoed, nodding his head in agreement.

Another bump was felt.

"_Oh shit_," Finn swore. "We're all going to die. I don't want to die yet! I still have so many things I want to do!"

"Like string a few more girls along? Break a few more hearts?" Santana snorted, flipping casually through a magazine like none of this was happening right now.

Puck snickered from where he sat, Rachel sending him a glare to silence him.

"Oh _snap_!" Mercedes commented, effectively joining in on the conversation.

"Everybody lay off Finn," Quinn repeated, starting to get annoyed.

They weren't dating anymore and they weren't exactly friends, but she still cared, no matter how much she tried not to.

"Yeah, come on guys," Mike inputted, Tina nudging him with her elbow to get him to speak up. "He's starting to turn a little green."

"Hmmm, he's right," Kurt added, leaning forward to check on his step-brother. "You ok there buddy?"

Finn took a deep breath before answering him.

"Yeah, a bit better, actually," he announced, much to everyone's relief, especially Quinn's, since her hand was currently the one in his death grip.

But then, there was a another bump. He let out another involuntary shriek again.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Hudson," Puck groaned, holding his head in his hands. "I'm getting second hand embarrassment here."

"_Noah!_" Rachel chided him, although she giggled at his words.

And then just as suddenly, the bumping stopped, like _really _stopped. Finn opened one eye cautiously and then the other, visibly relaxing.

"Is it over?" he hoped, releasing his grip on Quinn.

There was a brief pause before _everyone _within earshot on the plane said (in almost perfect unison), "_Yes!_"

Brittany woke up seconds later, turned to Santana, and asked in a tired voice, "Did I miss something?"

* * *

"I'm really sorry about everything I said earlier on the flight," Quinn apologized to Puck as the group headed down to lobby.

He looked at her for a moment to gauge her sincerity before answering, "Whatever. You weren't really saying anything that was untrue I guess."

"So, you like her," she noted, nodding her head curtly. "Why haven't you made a move then? Why are you dating Lauren?"

"You ask a lot of questions, Fabray," he mused, watching Rachel as she laughed at something Kurt had said.

"And you _avoid _a lot of question Puckerman," she returned with a smirk.

"She wants Finn and Lauren's a great girl," he answered reluctantly, knowing that Quinn wouldn't leave him alone until he did.

"You _should _make a move," she encouraged him, cocking her head over to where Rachel was currently walking beside Finn.

"Yeah, so you can get Hudson back, right?" he asked, knowing _exactly _what she was up to.

"Partly, I'll admit, but you deserve to be happy too," she insisted and again, he watched her to gauge her level of sincerity.

Puck shrugged.

"I'm happy if she's happy," he informed her (and it was the goddamn truth). "If that means helping Hudson get her back, I'll do it."

Quinn rolled her eyes at him.

"Wow, aren't you the silent hero," she mused sarcastically, to which Puck laughed.

"Just…be happy for him, Fabray," he suggested. "I know you're hurt right now and you _really _want him back, but doesn't absence make the heart grow fonder or some shit like that?"

"Yeah, some shit like that," she humored him, a giggle escaping from her lips as he pulled her into a side hug.

* * *

Quinn watched in horror as Finn and Rachel pulled away from each other. Looking over to see how Puck was reacting to this, she saw him clenching his fists in response. _Ha!_ Clearly, he couldn't really practice what he preached.

The moment they walked off stage, she dragged him aside.

"Do not even _try_ to tell me you just want Rachel to be happy," she hissed, evidently upset by the unscripted kiss she had just witnessed on stage.

"Wasn't going to," he answered her, his voice tense, his jaw clenched. "You got a plan, Fabray?"

She smirked, looking over at Finn and Rachel before nodding at him.

"All I need is a partner," she assured him, extending her hand toward him.

Puck shook it.

"Well, I think you just got one."

* * *

"So, you and Rachel," Quinn announced, walking up to meet him at his locker.

It was the last day of school and the final bell had rung moments earlier to officially signify their freedom.

"Yeah," he answered, choosing his words carefully. "Me and Rachel and you're…?"

"Fine with it," she echoed, since she and Finn had been trying really hard to be friends since their trip to New York.

_Well, she had more been pretending to try._

He raised an eyebrow to challenge her.

"I will be," she changed her earlier response to avoid suspicion and he smiled, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Thanks Quinn," he whispered, holding her close. "I know this year's been a whirlwind for us, but I want you to know I don't regret any of it."

"Our relationship with each other has always been a bit of a crazy roller coaster," she pointed out with a laugh, making an effort to suppress the feelings she still had for him. "You better go. Rachel's staring at us. You wouldn't want her to misunderstand."

Finn turned around to look at Rachel, returning his attentions to her briefly afterward, a lopsided smile on his face.

"So, I'll see you around then?" he questioned, to which she nodded, waving him off.

After watching the two go, she dropped her fake smile. She turned around to find Santana, Brittany, and Puck standing in front of her.

"That was so touching," Santana commented sarcastically. "Really, Puckerman had to get me a tissue."

"Seriously, Finn and Rachel are not going to know what hit them this summer," Puck said with a smirk looking at his "team".

"I'm confused," Brittany sounded, wrinkling her nose. "Why are we doing this again?"

"It's simple, Britt," Quinn assured her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "I want Finn back…"

"…and I want Rachel," Puck finished off for her.

"I know, but why are Santana and I a part of this?" the blonde questioned, looking to her best friend for an answer.

"Because no matter what anyone says, those two cost us Nationals," Santana answered, lips pursed. "Plus, I love a good scheme."

_Game on._


End file.
